Natural Investments LLC Purchases New Shares in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 57.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $423.44 on Wednesday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The stock has a market cap of $96.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $392.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ELV. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens downgraded shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $517.03.

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.