Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 205.1% during the first quarter, owning a total of 2,612 shares valued at $1,136,000.
• Elevance Health's stock has faced recent analyst downgrades, with price targets lowered by several firms, including JPMorgan and Baird, reflecting a cautious outlook on its performance.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.71 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.1%, with a payout ratio of 29.11%.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 205.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,612 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Elevance Health were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 41,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 5,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 135.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 2,966 shares of the company's stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 289.4% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 331 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 140.5% in the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 555,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,941,000 after buying an additional 324,511 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ELV. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on 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 Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (down from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $472.00 to $384.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $411.06.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV stock traded down $6.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $307.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,328,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,203. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.59. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $273.71 and a 52 week high of $559.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $373.20.

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

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 link. Also, Director Susan D. Devore acquired 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $312.15 per share, for a total transaction of $374,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,093,149.30. This represents a 52.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.