Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Given New $316.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $428.00 to $316.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ELV. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $529.00 target price (down from $625.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $480.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $478.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.93.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $276.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $371.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $395.63. Elevance Health has a 52 week low of $276.41 and a 52 week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.30 by ($0.46). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.11%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In related news, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $286.94 per share, with a total value of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This represents a 5.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.82, for a total transaction of $1,949,074.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,061,809.14. This represents a 19.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Elevance Health by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 626 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 27,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,976,000 after purchasing an additional 11,066 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.