Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 8,124 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 43.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,124 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $3,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Elevance Health by 26.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Elevance Health by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,647,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the third quarter worth about $915,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.0% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 25,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Elevance Health by 6.5% in the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Stock Up 0.6 %

ELV stock opened at $397.68 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $388.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $436.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.83. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho cut their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $517.03.

Elevance Health Company 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.