Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Shares Gap Up to $500.09

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $500.09, but opened at $512.43. Elevance Health shares last traded at $508.37, with a volume of 168,119 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $580.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $561.00 to $557.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $569.00.

Elevance Health Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $508.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.29. The firm has a market cap of $118.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.60 by $0.02. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $42.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Norges Bank bought a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $1,347,434,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $944,528,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $664,077,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $467,141,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 825.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 758,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,715,000 after buying an additional 676,769 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Company Profile

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.