C WorldWide Group Holding A S Increases Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,383 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,239 shares during the period. Elevance Health comprises approximately 0.4% of C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $33,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted 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 worth $341,956,000 after buying an additional 656,344 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,794,000 after purchasing an additional 538,978 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 16.2% during 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 buying an additional 334,552 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% during 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 buying an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $129,221,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $385.04 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $443.22. The company has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.83. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $362.21 and a 1 year high of $567.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $405.40 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens downgraded shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve 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 $517.03.

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.