Bank of Nova Scotia Boosts Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 77.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 237,998 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,212 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $69,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $1,058,165,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 25.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,668,679 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,610,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,274 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 50.3% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 79.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,408,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,065 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ELV has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $331.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Elevance Health from $399.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Elevance Health to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.90.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $377.39 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $356.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $273.71 and a twelve month high of $436.24. The company has a market capitalization of $81.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.67.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.21 by $1.24. The firm had revenue of $49.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.88 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 2.47%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.84 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.08 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. 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 30.58%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total value of $60,667.27. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,312,599.18. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Elevance Health Profile

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.