Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $440.9048.

ELV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Elevance Health from $411.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Elevance Health from $492.00 to $473.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings raised Elevance Health from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $363.00 to $498.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total transaction of $60,667.27. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,058,165,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 25.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,668,679 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 27.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,607,274 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 145.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,693,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,570,000 after buying an additional 1,597,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 50.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $378.17 on Thursday. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $273.71 and a fifty-two week high of $436.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $398.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $356.51. The company has a market cap of $82.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.67.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.21 by $1.24. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $49.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 27.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

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

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.