Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 4,168 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 268,481 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,168 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Elevance Health worth $99,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on ELV shares. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $405.40 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $517.03.

Elevance Health Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:ELV opened at $382.46 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $384.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $447.12. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $362.21 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $88.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.83.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. Equities analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.05 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.46%.

Elevance Health 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.