Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $575.00 to $585.00. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the stock. Elevance Health traded as high as $539.95 and last traded at $539.47, with a volume of 206072 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $533.73.

ELV has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Elevance Health from $574.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com lowered Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Elevance Health from $602.00 to $604.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $587.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total value of $7,531,605.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,460 shares in the company, valued at $16,791,460.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELV. abrdn plc grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 86.8% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 278,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,281,000 after purchasing an additional 129,364 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 52,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,663,000 after purchasing an additional 9,199 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Chicago Capital LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 244.2% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 7,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,235,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $124.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $511.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $486.40.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.54 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $42.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.49 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.64%.

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.