Heartland Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,948,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Elevance Health in the second quarter valued at $7,344,424,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,246,349,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth about $1,058,165,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,906,051,000 after buying an additional 1,668,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,610,261,000 after buying an additional 1,607,274 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $480.00 to $457.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $399.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $331.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $440.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total value of $60,667.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at $4,312,599.18. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $400.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $394.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $359.92. The company has a market cap of $86.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.68. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.84 and a twelve month high of $436.24.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. The company had revenue of $49.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.88 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 2.47%.The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.18 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.58%.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.