Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Cut to Hold at Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ELV. StockNews.com raised Elevance Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Elevance Health from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, March 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $508.81.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE ELV traded down $19.64 on Tuesday, reaching $404.89. 797,790 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,711,931. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $416.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $409.81. The firm has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health's previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,574 shares of the company's stock worth $7,926,028,000 after buying an additional 138,380 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,618,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,917,004,000 after purchasing an additional 464,137 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,893,947 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,963,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,826,447,000 after purchasing an additional 115,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,686,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,728,722,000 after buying an additional 76,896 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Elevance Health

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.