NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 3,275 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

NewEdge Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,381 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,275 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $4,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Elevance Health by 0.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,947 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Elevance Health by 2.4% in 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 during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,686,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,728,722,000 after acquiring an additional 76,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,189,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Baird R W lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim started coverage on Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $518.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $529.00 price objective (down from $625.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $424.44 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $416.77 and its 200-day moving average is $410.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. 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.