Woodline Partners LP Purchases 128,612 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its stake in Elevance Health, acquiring an additional 128,612 shares, bringing its total ownership to 131,036 shares worth approximately $56.99 million.
• Analysts have recently lowered their price targets for Elevance Health, with Wells Fargo adjusting their target from $400 to $330, while Barclays increased theirs from $327 to $373.
• Elevance Health has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.71, which will be paid on September 25, representing an annual yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 29.11%.

Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV - Free Report) by 5,305.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,036 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 128,612 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.06% of Elevance Health worth $56,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 2.2% in the first quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the company's stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA boosted its position in Elevance Health by 0.4% in the first quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 6,306 shares of the company's stock worth $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.0% in the first quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.0% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,190,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 13.3% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 230 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company's stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV traded down $3.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $311.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,503,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,082,560. The company has a market capitalization of $70.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.59. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $273.71 and a 1 year 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's 50-day moving average price is $306.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $370.70.

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). Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.12 earnings per share. Elevance Health's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. Elevance Health's payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $500.00 to $440.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $478.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Elevance Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Elevance Health from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $411.06.

Insider Activity

In other Elevance Health news, Director Susan D. Devore bought 1,200 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at $1,093,149.30. This represents a 52.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux bought 8,500 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $286.94 per share, with a total value of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,333,678.80. This represents a 5.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.