Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Update

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,090,000 shares, a decrease of 10.7% from the March 15th total of 2,340,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Activity

In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,457,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,102,208,000 after buying an additional 196,010 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Elevance Health by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,374,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,591,237,000 after acquiring an additional 248,150 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 13.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,214,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,243,000 after acquiring an additional 372,937 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 1.8% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,143,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,583,000 after purchasing an additional 56,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,087,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,132,000 after purchasing an additional 27,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Elevance Health from $561.00 to $557.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $569.00.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $507.02 on Wednesday. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $412.00 and a twelve month high of $521.18. The company has a market capitalization of $117.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $507.94 and a 200 day moving average of $482.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $42.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 3.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 37.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 25.90%.

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.