Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised Elevance Health’s price target from $473 to $492 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 15.54% upside from the reported $425.83 share price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: 15 analysts rate the stock a Buy and eight rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $456.48. UBS set the highest target at $523.
• Elevance Health exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $6.99 in earnings per share versus a $4.71 consensus estimate and $50.44 billion in revenue versus $49.28 billion expected.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $473.00 to $492.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 15.54% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ELV. Guggenheim increased their price target on Elevance Health from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $469.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Elevance Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $460.00 to $523.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $456.48.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE:ELV traded down $5.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $425.83. The stock had a trading volume of 93,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,761. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $274.84 and a twelve month high of $450.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $92.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $408.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $371.09.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.71 by $2.28. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 2.55%. The firm had revenue of $50.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 29.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, CFO Mark Kaye sold 10,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.13, for a total value of $4,658,335.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,766,949.47. The trade was a 34.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth approximately $7,344,424,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Elevance Health by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,426,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,032,283,000 after purchasing an additional 137,914 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Elevance Health by 12.0% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,213,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,563,142,000 after purchasing an additional 984,976 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 1.4% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,188,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,619,701,000 after purchasing an additional 55,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $1,246,349,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc NYSE: ELV is a diversified health benefits company that provides health insurance and related services in the United States. Its offerings serve employers, individuals and families, as well as members of government-sponsored programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. The company provides medical, pharmacy, behavioral health and other benefits through a range of health plans and specialty products.

Elevance Health operates its health benefits businesses through a portfolio that includes Blue Cross and Blue Shield-affiliated plans and other insurance offerings.

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