Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,845 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $8,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth $789,943,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 680,228 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,152,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,635,281,000 after acquiring an additional 666,534 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 241.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 856,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,039,000 after acquiring an additional 605,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 324,040 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $344.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $325.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $354.52. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $273.71 and a 1 year high of $458.75.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $50.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 29.11%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, Director Susan D. Devore purchased 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $312.15 per share, for a total transaction of $374,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $395.00 to $385.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $412.00 to $403.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $310.00 target price (down previously from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial set a $400.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $492.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.94.

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.