Hosking Partners LLP Trims Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Hosking Partners LLP reduced its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,018 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $28,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ELV. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 10.7% in the third quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 39,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,786 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Elevance Health by 1,711.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 53,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,858,000 after buying an additional 50,603 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,328,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ELV. StockNews.com cut shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens lowered shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $405.40 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $517.03.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $393.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $89.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $387.15 and its 200 day moving average is $440.60. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $362.21 and a one year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

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.