Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,941,000. Elevance Health accounts for approximately 1.7% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its position in Elevance Health by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 4.4% in the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 743 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.8% in the third quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.1% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Elevance Health from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $358.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $431.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Elevance Health from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Elevance Health from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.40.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $289.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $328.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $333.44. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $273.71 and a 12 month high of $458.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.51.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.The firm had revenue of $49.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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.