Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 257,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,279 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $90,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,941,000. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 33.5% in the third quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,584,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 236.7% in the third quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 4,320 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 31.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 461,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,182,000 after purchasing an additional 109,462 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,638,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $374.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $312.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $331.96. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $273.71 and a 12-month high of $424.24.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $12.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.74 by $1.84. The business had revenue of $49.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.21 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 2.62%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $11.97 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.850- EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 26.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ELV shares. Leerink Partners set a $364.00 price target on Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $396.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $332.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group set a $400.00 price target on Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $397.00 to $411.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.58.

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.