Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 6,545 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 300,284 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,545 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.13% of Elevance Health worth $110,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ELV shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $431.29 on Tuesday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $396.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.94. The company has a market cap of $98.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at $766,745.11. This represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.