Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $397.3333.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ELV. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Elevance Health from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $412.00 to $403.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Elevance Health from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $400.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, October 14th.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $321.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $330.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.63. The firm has a market cap of $71.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.60. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $273.71 and a 12 month high of $458.75.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $50.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.9% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,251,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 27,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Elevance Health by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Elevance Health by 4.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,764,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in Elevance Health by 44.8% during the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.