Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $465.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Elevance Health traded as high as $436.24 and last traded at $430.2070, with a volume of 2192410 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $425.17.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ELV. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $317.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $396.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $391.00 to $492.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total transaction of $60,667.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,058,165,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,906,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668,679 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Elevance Health by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,610,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,274 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Elevance Health by 145.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,693,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,903,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,368,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,390 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $399.37 and a 200-day moving average of $354.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were paid a $1.72 dividend. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.26%.

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.