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

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $604.29.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ELV shares. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $649.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Elevance Health to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th.

Elevance Health Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $539.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $536.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $529.47. Elevance Health has a 52-week low of $431.38 and a 52-week high of $567.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.82.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $43.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.99 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.04 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 37.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total value of $17,033,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares in the company, valued at $63,478,674.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total transaction of $17,033,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,478,674.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total value of $400,234.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,647,610.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,058 shares of company stock worth $17,588,116. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,093,000 after buying an additional 14,700 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,133,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,805,000. Finally, Clear Rock Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 4,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health benefits company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Health Benefits, CarelonRx, Carelon Services, and Corporate & Other. It offers a variety of health plans and services to program members; health products; an array of fee-based administrative managed care services; and specialty and other insurance products and services, such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health insurance benefits.