Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $539.20.

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Elevance Health Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ELV opened at $425.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $397.98 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $489.22 and its 200 day moving average is $517.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.85.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 188,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,798,000 after acquiring an additional 13,619 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,076,000 after purchasing an additional 10,915 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Elevance Health by 5.0% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 209,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,127,000 after purchasing an additional 9,916 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.2% in the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,873,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 26.4% in the third quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 6,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits.