M&G Plc Buys 13,428 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

M&G Plc raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 405,314 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,428 shares during the period. Elevance Health makes up 1.3% of M&G Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. M&G Plc’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $219,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ELV. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 8.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.6% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, American Trust increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.6% during the first quarter. American Trust now owns 775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ELV shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $624.00 to $589.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $643.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $530.00 target price (down from $646.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $604.29.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock traded up $5.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $531.65. 447,251 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,047,815. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $529.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $520.57. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $431.38 and a 52-week high of $555.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.84.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 20.64%. The firm had revenue of $43.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 24.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total value of $154,561.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,926,213.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.52, for a total value of $400,234.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,647,610.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total transaction of $154,561.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,926,213.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,058 shares of company stock valued at $17,588,116. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.