Jones Financial Companies Lllp Decreases Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp reduced its stake in Elevance Health by 76.5%, ending with 3,294 shares valued at $1,433,000.
• Insider purchases included CEO Gail Boudreaux acquiring 8,500 shares at $286.94 each, increasing her holdings to 151,020 shares valued over $43 million.
• Wells Fargo downgraded Elevance Health's price target from $400 to $330, while maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lessened its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 76.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,294 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,734 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Elevance Health were worth $1,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,152,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,635,281,000 after acquiring an additional 666,534 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,849,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,239,276,000 after acquiring an additional 680,228 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,352,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $867,713,000 after acquiring an additional 199,550 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,116,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $920,501,000 after acquiring an additional 24,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,943,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $845,394,000 after acquiring an additional 29,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Elevance Health Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ELV traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $309.78. 2,059,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,981,528. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $69.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $305.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $369.80. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $273.71 and a 1 year high of $554.03.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.30 by ($0.46). The company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.12 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.11%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux purchased 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan D. Devore purchased 1,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $312.15 per share, with a total value of $374,580.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,149.30. This trade represents a 52.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ELV shares. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Leerink Partners restated a "market perform" rating and set a $310.00 price target (down previously from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $327.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $411.06.

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.