Vest Financial LLC Increases Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 75.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,613 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,834 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $33,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Elevance Health by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,551,000 after buying an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 39,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,360,000 after buying an additional 3,786 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,972,000 after acquiring an additional 532,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1,711.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 53,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,858,000 after acquiring an additional 50,603 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ELV shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $517.03.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE:ELV opened at $391.23 on Friday. 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 cap of $90.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $386.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.49. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.07 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.46%.

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.