Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Elevance Health has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with twelve out of eighteen brokerages issuing buy ratings and an average price target of $418.19.
• CEO Gail Boudreaux purchased 8,500 shares of the stock, raising her ownership to 151,020 shares, which signals insider confidence in the company's performance.
• Despite a revenue increase of 14.3%, Elevance Health reported earnings per share of $8.84 for the last quarter, missing expectations by $0.46.

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $418.1875.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Elevance Health from $478.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Leerink Partnrs cut Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Baird R W cut shares of Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Elevance Health from $472.00 to $384.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $310.00 target price (down from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, July 18th.

Elevance Health Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of ELV traded up $10.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $294.33. 2,405,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,958,235. The business has a fifty day moving average of $341.96 and a 200-day moving average of $386.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.58. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $273.71 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.30 by ($0.46). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $49.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.12 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health's payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, CEO Gail Boudreaux bought 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $286.94 per share, with a total value of $2,438,990.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,333,678.80. This trade represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 48,555 shares of the company's stock worth $18,887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 126.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 27,000 shares of the company's stock worth $10,502,000 after buying an additional 15,100 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 24.7% in the second quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 5,825,208 shares of the company's stock worth $2,265,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,440 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Elevance Health by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,752 shares of the company's stock worth $7,683,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.7% in the second quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 133,070 shares of the company's stock worth $51,759,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company's stock.

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.