Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $435.04, but opened at $390.00. Elevance Health shares last traded at $411.09, with a volume of 449,204 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim started coverage on Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $518.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stephens lowered shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $514.41.

Elevance Health Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $96.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $415.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,828,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Elevance Health by 39.6% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 10,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,433,000 after buying an additional 2,983 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Elevance Health by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,855,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.