Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $395.76, but opened at $370.44. Elevance Health shares last traded at $361.15, with a volume of 779,374 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Baird R W downgraded Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $518.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.87.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $78.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $387.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $398.19.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $11.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.60 by $1.37. The firm had revenue of $48.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 18.61%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction 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 $8,061,809.14. This trade represents a 19.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,152,108 shares of the company's stock worth $9,635,281,000 after purchasing an additional 666,534 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Elevance Health by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,618,062 shares of the company's stock worth $3,917,004,000 after purchasing an additional 464,137 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Elevance Health by 42.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,963,991 shares of the company's stock worth $1,826,447,000 after buying an additional 115,971 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 1.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Elevance Health Company Profile

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.