Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has decreased its stake in Elevance Health by 18.3%, leaving them with 21,473 shares valued at $9.34 million.
• Elevance Health reported an EPS of $8.84 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.46, although its revenue of $49.42 billion exceeded expectations.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.71 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 29.11%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,473 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,822 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Elevance Health were worth $9,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 418,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,435,000 after purchasing an additional 68,392 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 38,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,258,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at $2,668,000. Keel Point LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,043,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE ELV opened at $322.01 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $315.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $374.86. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $273.71 and a 12 month high of $567.26. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $72.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.59.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.30 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio is 29.11%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux purchased 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $286.94 per share, for a total transaction of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This trade represents a 5.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $434.00 to $358.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $492.00 to $297.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $484.00 price objective (down previously from $555.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Monday, July 14th. Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (down previously from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.81.

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.