Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 13.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,224 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $5,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ELV. Field & Main Bank boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 1,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 766 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, 55 North Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 4.5% during the third quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ELV. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $451.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.48.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $430.16 on Friday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.84 and a 1-year high of $450.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $92.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $415.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $374.67.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.71 by $2.28. The firm had revenue of $50.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 2.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 29.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 29.34%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Ratnakar Lavu sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.00, for a total value of $572,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,533,560. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 10,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.13, for a total transaction of $4,658,335.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,766,949.47. This represents a 34.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc. is a U.S. health benefits and services company. Formerly known as Anthem, Inc., it adopted the Elevance Health name in 2022 while retaining the Anthem brand for many of its health plans. The company offers medical, pharmacy, dental, vision and behavioral health coverage, including plans for individuals and employers as well as programs serving Medicare and Medicaid members. Its services also include care management, pharmacy benefit services and other health-related capabilities through its Carelon business.