Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Should You Sell?

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $383.21 and last traded at $386.92, with a volume of 287742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $392.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus downgraded Elevance Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James set a $485.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $520.00 target price (down from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $539.20.

Elevance Health Stock Down 2.8 %

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 $88.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $434.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $499.31.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.99 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Elevance Health's payout ratio is 23.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at $3,639,915.22. This trade represents a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT increased its stake in Elevance Health by 10.7% during the 3rd 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 increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $276,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,016 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1,711.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 53,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,858,000 after purchasing an additional 50,603 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 209,859 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,127,000 after purchasing an additional 9,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 104,229 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,199,000 after purchasing an additional 21,708 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.