Credit Agricole S A Increases Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 70.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 35,162 shares, bringing their total stake to 85,118 shares valued at approximately $37 million.
• Elevance Health announced a quarterly dividend of $1.71 per share, with an annualized payout of $6.84, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.2%, to be distributed on September 25th.
• Recent analyst reports have resulted in varied price targets for Elevance Health, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowering its target from $472 to $384, while maintaining an "overweight" rating.

Credit Agricole S A boosted its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 70.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,118 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 35,162 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Elevance Health were worth $37,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ELV. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,128,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,823 shares of the company's stock worth $2,886,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Grafton Street Partners Fund LP purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,515,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 760,804 shares of the company's stock worth $280,793,000 after purchasing an additional 32,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eversept Partners LP lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 29,178 shares of the company's stock worth $10,764,000 after purchasing an additional 9,713 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ELV shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $478.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $428.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $492.00 to $297.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $434.00 to $358.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.81.

Elevance Health Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE ELV traded up $6.2370 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $315.8370. 2,961,044 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,567,187. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $324.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $378.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $273.71 and a twelve month high of $567.26.

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 firm had revenue of $49.42 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.11%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

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

Elevance Health 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.