Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $435.00 to $460.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Elevance Health traded as high as $416.49 and last traded at $414.9450, with a volume of 376105 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $409.44.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ELV. Weiss Ratings upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $400.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $397.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Leerink Partners set a $364.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $396.00 to $399.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $411.11.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DV Trading LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 244.3% in the 1st quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,552,000 after buying an additional 3,343 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter valued at $542,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 8,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Grp LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 162.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Trading Up 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $89.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $352.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.24.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $12.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.74 by $1.84. The company had revenue of $49.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.21 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 2.62%.Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $11.97 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.850- EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 26.94 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.26%.

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.