Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Purchases New Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,740,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,618,062 shares of the company's stock worth $3,917,004,000 after buying an additional 464,137 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Elevance Health by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,947 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,963,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,826,447,000 after buying an additional 115,971 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,686,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,728,722,000 after buying an additional 76,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,880,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,431,559,000 after buying an additional 35,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELV has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $478.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $472.00 to $384.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $478.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $529.00 target price (down from $625.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $432.69.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $281.64 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $371.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $396.02. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.40 and a 1 year high of $567.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.60. 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 announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $49.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Elevance Health's payout ratio is currently 29.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux purchased 8,500 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 4,588 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.82, for a total value of $1,949,074.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,061,809.14. The trade was a 19.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.