Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 8.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 255,889 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,591 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $99,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,152,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,635,281,000 after acquiring an additional 666,534 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,849,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,276,000 after purchasing an additional 680,228 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,676,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,041,000 after purchasing an additional 324,040 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,116,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $920,501,000 after purchasing an additional 24,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,943,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,394,000 after purchasing an additional 29,174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan D. Devore acquired 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $312.15 per share, with a total value of $374,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,149.30. This trade represents a 52.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $286.94 per share, for a total transaction of $2,438,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,333,678.80. This represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $330.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $360.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $500.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $412.00.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $353.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $315.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $359.18. The company has a market cap of $79.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $273.71 and a fifty-two week high of $510.24.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.30 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.26 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 2.83%.The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 29.11%.

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.