Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus restated a "hold" rating and issued a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $517.03.

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Elevance Health Price Performance

ELV stock traded up $4.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $421.72. 1,451,690 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,298,132. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $395.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.79. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The company has a market cap of $95.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. On average, analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Elevance Health's previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health's payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% in the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Tobam increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 434 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company's stock.

About Elevance Health

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.