Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $587.64.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Elevance Health from $557.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $584.00 to $621.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $602.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $574.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $532.92 on Friday. Elevance Health has a 52 week low of $412.00 and a 52 week high of $539.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $123.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $510.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $485.10.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.54 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $42.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.49 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 37.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 24.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at $4,554,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 4.9% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,350,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 53.5% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 987 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.