Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 34,972 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 180,619 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,972 shares during the period. Elevance Health accounts for about 0.5% of Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $69,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,344,424,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the second quarter worth $1,246,349,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth $1,058,165,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth $688,469,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Elevance Health by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,906,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668,679 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $399.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $86.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, 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. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $395.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $361.82.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.21 by $1.24. The firm had revenue of $49.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.88 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 2.47%.The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.84 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 30.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $363.00 to $498.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $439.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Elevance Health from $331.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total value of $60,667.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health 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.