First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 117,113 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 21.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 656,353 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,113 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.30% of Elevance Health worth $192,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Signet Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 837 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Elevance Health by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

ELV stock opened at $389.29 on Thursday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $273.71 and a 1 year high of $436.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $399.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $356.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. The firm had revenue of $49.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.88 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 14.64%. Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ELV. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $364.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $492.00 to $473.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $331.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.90.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total transaction of $60,667.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at $4,312,599.18. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.