Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. increased its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 133,070 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the quarter. Elevance Health makes up about 2.4% of Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $51,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ELV. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.9% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,251,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in Elevance Health by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 27,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,125,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 4.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,764,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 7.1% in the second quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 15,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target (down from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $360.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $316.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $397.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In related news, Director Susan D. Devore acquired 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $312.15 per share, for a total transaction of $374,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,149.30. The trade was a 52.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $325.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $329.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $341.83. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $273.71 and a one year high of $458.75. The company has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.60.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $1.00. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 2.84%.The company had revenue of $50.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

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.