Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Shares Sold by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP cut its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 39.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 707 shares of the company’s stock after selling 470 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,687,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,557,759,000 after buying an additional 129,709 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,848,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,511,814,000 after buying an additional 85,770 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.0% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,609,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,396,814,000 after buying an additional 44,805 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after buying an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 47.6% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,828,000 after buying an additional 1,039,612 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $427.27 on Monday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $362.21 and a 12-month high of $567.26. The stock has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $400.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share 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 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 1.60%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ELV. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Truist Financial decreased 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective 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 Thursday. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.