Professional Advisory Services Inc. Sells 8,231 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Key Points

• Professional Advisory Services Inc. reduced its Elevance Health stake by 10.7% in the second quarter, selling 8,231 shares and retaining 68,657 shares valued at approximately $26.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 89.24%, with several major investors—including Wellington Management, T. Rowe Price, Amundi and Invesco—adding to their positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $440.90. Elevance also exceeded quarterly earnings expectations and declared a $1.72-per-share dividend.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 10.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,657 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,231 shares during the period. Elevance Health accounts for about 3.2% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $26,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,058,165,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company's stock worth $2,906,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668,679 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company's stock worth $2,610,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,274 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 145.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,693,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $788,570,000 after buying an additional 1,597,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,903,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,368,505,000 after buying an additional 1,306,390 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Elevance Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $363.00 to $498.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Leerink Partners upped their price target on Elevance Health from $364.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Elevance Health from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $488.00 target price on Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $440.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total value of $60,667.27. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $394.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.84 and a 1-year high of $436.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $396.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $357.24.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 2.47%.The company had revenue of $49.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.84 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.07 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Elevance Health's payout ratio is 30.58%.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc NYSE: ELV is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company's strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance's core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.

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