Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 600 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $4,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Elevance Health by 152.0% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 63 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter valued at $29,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter valued at $43,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ELV. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $428.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (down from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $418.56.

Elevance Health Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $362.47 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $273.71 and a 12-month high of $510.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $312.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $360.14.

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

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other news, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan D. Devore bought 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $312.15 per share, with a total value of $374,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,149.30. The trade was a 52.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% 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.