Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Trading Down 7.7% – Time to Sell?

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) shares were down 7.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $298.70 and last traded at $295.4680. Approximately 1,126,467 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 1,688,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ELV. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $401.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $400.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $404.00 to $393.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $425.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $332.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $390.55.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $350.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $335.99. The company has a market capitalization of $64.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $49.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.84 earnings per share. Elevance Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ELV. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 56.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 116.4% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth about $315,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 67.7% in the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Elevance Health by 29.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.