Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $569.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ELV. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $561.00 to $557.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE:ELV opened at $525.19 on Friday. Elevance Health has a one year low of $412.00 and a one year high of $539.11. The stock has a market cap of $122.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.78. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $508.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $482.59.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.60 by $0.02. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company had revenue of $42.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 37.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,457,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,102,208,000 after purchasing an additional 196,010 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Elevance Health by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,374,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,591,237,000 after purchasing an additional 248,150 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Elevance Health by 13.1% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,214,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,428,243,000 after purchasing an additional 372,937 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Elevance Health by 1.8% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,143,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,583,000 after purchasing an additional 56,204 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,087,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,456,132,000 after acquiring an additional 27,986 shares during 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.