Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Shares Gap Up to $500.09

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $500.09, but opened at $512.43. Elevance Health shares last traded at $508.37, with a volume of 168,119 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ELV. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $580.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $561.00 to $557.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $569.00.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $118.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $507.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $481.59.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.60 by $0.02. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 3.49%. The firm had revenue of $42.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 25.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,554,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ELV. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,457,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,102,208,000 after acquiring an additional 196,010 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,374,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,591,237,000 after buying an additional 248,150 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,214,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,428,243,000 after buying an additional 372,937 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.8% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,143,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,583,000 after acquiring an additional 56,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,087,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,132,000 after acquiring an additional 27,986 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.