Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Stock Rating Lowered by Leerink Partnrs

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Leerink Partnrs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ELV. Wall Street Zen lowered Elevance Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $310.00 target price (down previously from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday. Mizuho upped their target price on Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $529.00 price objective (down previously from $625.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $478.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $435.93.

Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE:ELV traded down $25.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $276.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,379,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,672,342. Elevance Health has a 52-week low of $276.41 and a 52-week high of $567.26. The company has a market capitalization of $62.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.60. The business's 50-day moving average is $371.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $395.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.30 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.26 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.82, for a total transaction of $1,949,074.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,977 shares in the company, valued at $8,061,809.14. This trade represents a 19.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $286.94 per share, with a total value of $2,438,990.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This trade represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Milestone Asset Management LLC increased its position in Elevance Health by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the company's stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA grew its position in Elevance Health by 0.4% in the first quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 6,306 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,743,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc grew its position in Elevance Health by 3.0% in the first quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Elevance Health by 1.0% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in Elevance Health by 13.3% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 230 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 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.