Guardian Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in Elevance Health during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.81.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

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

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

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

About Elevance Health

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.