Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,920 shares of the company’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $3,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,062,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,698,000 after purchasing an additional 523,910 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $239,244,000. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the first quarter worth about $249,884,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,389,000. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $173,753,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ELV. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Elevance Health in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $643.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $621.00 to $611.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $615.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $604.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In related news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total transaction of $17,033,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,478,674.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Elevance Health news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total transaction of $17,033,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,478,674.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total value of $400,234.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,647,610.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,058 shares of company stock valued at $17,588,116 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV opened at $524.09 on Friday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $431.38 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The stock has a market cap of $121.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $536.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $529.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.64% and a net margin of 3.89%. The company had revenue of $43.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.04 earnings per share. Elevance Health’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 24.64%.

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.