Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $336,000 Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,687,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,557,759,000 after buying an additional 129,709 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,848,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,511,814,000 after buying an additional 85,770 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,609,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,396,814,000 after buying an additional 44,805 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after buying an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,574,000 after buying an additional 334,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Up 0.1 %

Elevance Health stock opened at $397.67 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $362.21 and a 12-month high of $567.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $389.26 and its 200 day moving average is $436.03. The company has a market capitalization of $90.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.83.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ELV. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $517.03.

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.