Vanguard Group Inc. Has $7.93 Billion Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,485,574 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 138,380 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.26% of Elevance Health worth $7,926,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ELV shares. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of ELV opened at $427.27 on Monday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $362.21 and a one year high of $567.26. The company has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $400.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.46.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. Research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

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.