Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Shares Sold by Richwood Investment Advisors LLC

Richwood Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 437 shares during the quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ELV. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,794,000 after acquiring an additional 538,978 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after acquiring an additional 286,905 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the third quarter valued at approximately $129,221,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,882,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Trading Down 1.6 %

ELV opened at $427.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $400.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.32. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. On average, equities analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. 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 1.60%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ELV shares. Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens cut Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.81.

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.