High Ground Investment Management LLP Raises Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Key Points

• High Ground Investment Management LLP increased its stake in Elevance Health, acquiring an additional 13,020 shares, bringing its total ownership to 222,030 shares, which constitutes 22.6% of its investment portfolio.
• CEO Gail Boudreaux purchased 8,500 shares at an average cost of $286.94, increasing her ownership to 151,020 shares, valued at approximately $43.3 million.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $8.84, below the expected $9.30, although it achieved a revenue of $49.42 billion, exceeding analyst estimates.

High Ground Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,030 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,020 shares during the period. Elevance Health makes up about 22.6% of High Ground Investment Management LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. High Ground Investment Management LLP owned approximately 0.10% of Elevance Health worth $96,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 41.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 32,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,610 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 13,371.2% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,891 shares of the company's stock worth $3,867,000 after buying an additional 8,825 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 20.0% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the company's stock worth $2,007,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 14.2% in the first quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company's stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maridea Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter worth $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ELV. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $428.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $434.00 to $358.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $478.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $418.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $286.94 per share, with a total value of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,333,678.80. This trade represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Elevance Health Price Performance

ELV stock traded down $8.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $274.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,177,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,929,222. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $351.82 and a 200 day moving average of $389.87. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $273.86 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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 the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

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.