Analysts Set Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) PT at $384.67

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $383.3810.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ELV. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Elevance Health from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price target on Elevance Health from $404.00 to $393.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $400.00 price target on Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Elevance Health from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $332.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE:ELV traded up $10.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $329.59. The stock had a trading volume of 244,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,828,003. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $331.76. Elevance Health has a 12-month low of $273.71 and a 12-month high of $432.93. The stock has a market cap of $72.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.49.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.23. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.The business had revenue of $49.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 25.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth $1,058,165,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,906,051,000 after buying an additional 1,668,679 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,610,261,000 after buying an additional 1,607,274 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,903,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,368,505,000 after buying an additional 1,306,390 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 79.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,408,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,371,000 after buying an additional 1,065,065 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Elevance Health

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.