Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Coverage Initiated at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage on Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) with a "neutral" rating, while other analysts have mixed sentiments with ratings ranging from "buy" to "hold."
• Elevance Health's quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $8.84, falling short of the expected $9.30, despite revenue of $49.42 billion exceeding projections.
• Insider trading activities include CEO Gail Boudreaux acquiring 8,500 shares and Director Susan D. Devore increasing her holdings by 52.13% with a recent purchase.

Equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Elevance Health from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $360.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $330.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated a "market perform" rating and set a $310.00 price target (down from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, July 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $408.33.

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of ELV opened at $350.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $78.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50-day moving average price is $318.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $357.56. Elevance Health has a 12-month low of $273.71 and a 12-month high of $497.34.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other news, Director Susan D. Devore acquired 1,200 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $312.15 per share, for a total transaction of $374,580.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,093,149.30. The trade was a 52.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux bought 8,500 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $286.94 per share, for a total transaction of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,333,678.80. The trade was a 5.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ELV. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 88.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,991,000 after purchasing an additional 7,410 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 185.7% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,083 shares of the company's stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 47,777 shares of the company's stock worth $20,781,000 after buying an additional 3,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the first quarter worth about $667,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

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.