Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $480.00 to $434.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Elevance Health traded as low as $343.31 and last traded at $345.15, with a volume of 118822 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $349.46.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $478.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Baird R W cut shares of Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Argus set a $465.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Elevance Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $495.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,977 shares in the company, valued at $8,061,809.14. This represents a 19.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,223,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,565 shares of the company's stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 75,184 shares of the company's stock worth $29,244,000 after buying an additional 5,017 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 36,209 shares of the company's stock worth $14,084,000 after buying an additional 9,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 234.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 380,441 shares of the company's stock worth $147,976,000 after buying an additional 266,631 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $380.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $397.40. The company has a market capitalization of $76.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $11.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.60 by $1.37. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 18.61%. The business had revenue of $48.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.26 billion. Analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Elevance Health's payout ratio is 26.69%.

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.