Equitable Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 213.1% during the first quarter, now owning shares worth $2.81 million.
• Elevance Health reported a quarterly earnings miss with $8.84 earnings per share, falling short of analysts' estimate of $9.30, despite a revenue increase of 14.3% year-over-year.
• The company's stock has a current market cap of $65.10 billion and analysts have set a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $418.19.

Equitable Trust Co. grew its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 213.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,452 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,391 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $2,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $3,917,004,000 after acquiring an additional 464,137 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 42.5% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,963,991 shares of the company's stock worth $1,826,447,000 after purchasing an additional 115,971 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,686,154 shares of the company's stock worth $1,728,722,000 after buying an additional 76,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,880,630 shares of the company's stock worth $1,431,559,000 after buying an additional 35,576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $447.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $472.00 to $384.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $418.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gail Boudreaux bought 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $286.94 per share, for a total transaction of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Elevance Health Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:ELV traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $290.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 618,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,909,171. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $391.33. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.40 and a 1 year high of $567.26. 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 (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 17.59%. Elevance Health's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health's payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

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.