Brokerages Set Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Price Target at $569.36

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $569.36.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $547.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 price target on the stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $519.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Elevance Health has a 1 year low of $412.00 and a 1 year high of $521.18. The company has a market cap of $120.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $500.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $475.45.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.60 by $0.02. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company had revenue of $42.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,347,434,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $944,528,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $664,077,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $503,385,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $467,141,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Company Profile

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.