Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Argus set a $465.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, April 25th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $484.00 price objective (down previously from $555.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Monday, July 14th. Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $310.00 price objective (down previously from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $478.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $435.93.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV traded down $25.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $276.87. 8,379,827 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,672,342. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company's fifty day moving average price is $371.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $395.81. Elevance Health has a 52-week low of $276.41 and a 52-week high of $567.26.

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

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $286.94 per share, for a total transaction of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.2% during the first quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the company's stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.0% during the first quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Elevance Health by 1.0% during the 1st 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 stake in Elevance Health by 13.3% during the 1st 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 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.