Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Decreases By 23.7%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, a decline of 23.7% from the February 13th total of 3,250,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Tobam lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV traded down $9.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $426.55. The stock had a trading volume of 122,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,298,883. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $397.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $427.09. The firm has a market cap of $96.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. Elevance Health has a one year low of $362.21 and a one year high of $567.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ELV. Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

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.