Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 56,650 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,156,189 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,650 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $426,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Legacy Inc. raised its position in Elevance Health by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 6,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 30,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,181,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,947 shares during the period. Finally, Inkwell Capital LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,195,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Argus upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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 the company’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at $766,745.11. This trade 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 Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ELV opened at $435.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $405.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $419.64. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Elevance Health 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.