Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Purchases Shares of 120 Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,926,028,000 after purchasing an additional 138,380 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after buying an additional 1,893,947 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,963,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,826,447,000 after acquiring an additional 115,971 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 47.6% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at $1,135,014,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at $766,745.11. This represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV stock opened at $428.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $408.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.26. 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.

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

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

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.