Elevance Health’s (ELV) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a $529.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $625.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Elevance Health from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $518.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $514.41.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $437.83 on Tuesday. Elevance Health has a 52-week low of $362.21 and a 52-week high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $414.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $412.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Elevance Health by 81,726.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,474,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,712 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6,817.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 908,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,254,000 after purchasing an additional 895,658 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.