Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ELV. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. 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. Raymond James set a $485.00 target price on Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Stephens downgraded Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $517.03.

Elevance Health Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE ELV opened at $389.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $386.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.94. The company has a market capitalization of $90.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $362.21 and a 12 month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. Research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 34.07 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 51,967.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 657,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,956,000 after acquiring an additional 656,344 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,794,000 after acquiring an additional 538,978 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 532,016 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,574,000 after purchasing an additional 334,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.