Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Position Increased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 93.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,423 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,886 shares during the quarter. Elevance Health comprises approximately 0.7% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Elevance Health were worth $8,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 720,367 shares of the company's stock worth $276,073,000 after purchasing an additional 326,543 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Elevance Health during the 1st quarter valued at about $299,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,390 shares of the company's stock worth $1,475,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 185.7% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,083 shares of the company's stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,566 shares of the company's stock worth $11,991,000 after acquiring an additional 7,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $286.94 per share, for a total transaction of $2,438,990.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,333,678.80. The trade was a 5.96% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.82, for a total value of $1,949,074.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,977 shares in the company, valued at $8,061,809.14. This represents a 19.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Elevance Health Trading Down 8.5%

ELV traded down $25.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $276.87. The company had a trading volume of 8,379,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,676,968. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $374.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $396.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $62.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.60. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.57 and a 12-month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. 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 2.47%. Elevance Health's dividend payout ratio is 26.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $428.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Argus set a $465.00 price target on Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $447.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Elevance Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $478.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $441.81.

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.