Howard Bailey Securities LLC Buys 437 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Howard Bailey Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 55.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,220 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 51,967.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 657,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,956,000 after buying an additional 656,344 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 309.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,794,000 after acquiring an additional 538,978 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,016 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,574,000 after purchasing an additional 334,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ELV shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $517.03.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $385.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $451.16. The company has a market cap of $89.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.83. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.46%.

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.