Wall Street Zen Upgrades Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) to “Buy”

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Elevance Health from $424.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $363.00 to $498.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Mizuho upped their price target on Elevance Health from $435.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Evercore reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $364.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.16.

Elevance Health Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ELV opened at $416.97 on Friday. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $273.71 and a 1-year high of $427.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $391.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $351.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.67.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $12.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.74 by $1.84. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The company had revenue of $49.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $11.97 earnings per share. Elevance Health’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.850- EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 26.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ELV. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at $5,941,000. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,362,000. Prana Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 798.9% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 51,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,684,000 after purchasing an additional 45,889 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter worth about $10,047,000. Finally, Loews Corp increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 107.5% in the third quarter. Loews Corp now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,543,000 after purchasing an additional 57,000 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 (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.