California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 45.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 316,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 264,430 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $92,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,906,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668,679 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,610,261,000 after buying an additional 1,607,274 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,032,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,764,231,000 after buying an additional 455,946 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,022,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,410,219,000 after buying an additional 24,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,903,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,368,505,000 after buying an additional 1,306,390 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ELV. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $400.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $439.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $399.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Fifteen investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.90.

More Elevance Health News

Here are the key news stories impacting Elevance Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Elevance posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook, which supports the bullish case for the stock. Elevance Health Beats Q2 And Raises Outlook While Leaving More Medicaid Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts turned more constructive after earnings, including Guggenheim raising its target to $455 and TD Cowen reiterating a Buy rating, suggesting confidence in upside from current levels. These Analysts Revise Their Forecasts On Elevance Health Following Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays also maintained an Overweight rating, even though it trimmed its price target, which still implies meaningful upside and reflects continued analyst support. Barclays price target update on Elevance Health
• Neutral Sentiment: Elevance’s Q2 earnings call highlighted growth opportunities, but also acknowledged ongoing strain in parts of the business, making the near-term outlook more balanced than purely upbeat. Elevance Health earnings call: growth levers amid strain
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are being held back by margin pressure and concerns around the company’s Medicaid exposure, which some coverage framed as a reason the stock slipped despite the earnings beat. Elevance Health beats second-quarter forecasts but shares slide on margin pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary also noted ELV underperformed peers recently, indicating investor caution even after the earnings report. Elevance Health Inc. stock underperforms Thursday when compared to competitors

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $372.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $273.71 and a 1 year high of $436.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $399.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.39. The firm has a market cap of $80.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.67.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 2.47%.The firm had revenue of $49.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.84 earnings per share. Elevance Health’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $1.72 dividend. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.58%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.34% 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.