Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Acquires 316,002 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,000,660 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 316,002 shares during the period. Elevance Health accounts for 2.4% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned approximately 0.86% of Elevance Health worth $738,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,947 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company's stock worth $1,189,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,612 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 6,817.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 908,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $335,254,000 after purchasing an additional 895,658 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in Elevance Health by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,875,850 shares of the company's stock worth $1,060,901,000 after purchasing an additional 437,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Elevance Health Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ELV traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $436.77. 784,103 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,434,443. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $362.21 and a one year high of $567.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $411.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $414.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $98.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. This is an increase from Elevance Health's previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health's payout ratio is 26.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded Elevance Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, March 28th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $518.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.71.

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.