Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,649 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,646 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Elevance Health worth $141,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 10.7% in the third quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 39,154 shares of the company's stock worth $20,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,786 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Elevance Health by 85,533.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $276,972,000 after buying an additional 532,016 shares during the period. abrdn plc grew its position in Elevance Health by 32.2% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 360,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,540,000 after buying an additional 87,717 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Elevance Health by 119.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 12,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,292,000 after buying an additional 6,610 shares during the period. Finally, AMI Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,294,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stephens restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $520.00 price target (down previously from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $539.20.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV stock traded down $6.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $422.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,569,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,318,684. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $397.98 and a 52-week high of $567.26. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $489.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $517.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $98.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.85.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The business had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.99 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.77%.

Elevance Health 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.