Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $397.3333.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Elevance Health from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $343.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $412.00 to $403.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $316.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $316.84 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $330.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.47. The stock has a market cap of $70.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $273.71 and a fifty-two week high of $458.75.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $50.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.26 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 2.84%.Elevance Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 8.6% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the first quarter valued at $257,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 584 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $969,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.