Abacus Planning Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 979 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 152.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 63 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1,340.0% in the first quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 72 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $340.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $306.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $362.26. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $273.71 and a 12-month high of $510.24.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.30 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.26 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 2.83%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 29.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $447.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $327.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Elevance Health from $492.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $310.00 price target (down previously from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $411.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan D. Devore purchased 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $312.15 per share, with a total value of $374,580.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,149.30. This trade represents a 52.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux purchased 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $286.94 per share, for a total transaction of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This trade represents a 5.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.