Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Rises By 22.7%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,764,383 shares, a growth of 22.7% from the November 30th total of 3,883,536 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,706,213 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,706,213 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 18.1% in the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 389,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,823,000 after buying an additional 59,743 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in Elevance Health by 44.8% during the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 3.9% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,251,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 14,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 17.0% in the second quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 27,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,671,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Elevance Health from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Truist Financial set a $400.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $395.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Elevance Health from $359.00 to $352.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $396.21.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV traded up $1.79 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $350.59. 855,537 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,531,367. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $273.71 and a twelve month high of $458.75. The firm has a market cap of $77.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $334.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $328.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

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

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

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.