Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Drops By 13.2%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,669,028 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the February 26th total of 4,227,962 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,161,016 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lifted its position in Elevance Health by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 825 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 979 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $284.64 on Tuesday. Elevance Health has a 1 year low of $273.71 and a 1 year high of $458.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $62.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.51.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $49.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.52 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.84 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ELV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $394.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $297.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Elevance Health from $431.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.40.

About Elevance Health

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.