Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,803 Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,773,000. Elevance Health accounts for about 1.7% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,828,000 after buying an additional 1,039,612 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,794,000 after purchasing an additional 538,978 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the 3rd quarter worth about $129,221,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth about $88,882,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ELV shares. Argus upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens downgraded Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.81.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $423.03 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $401.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The firm has a market cap of $96.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.