Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Has $249,000 Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 55.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 676 shares of the company’s stock after selling 850 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 40,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,101,000 after purchasing an additional 6,923 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 82.0% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,593,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $997,000. Keystone Financial Services lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $405.40 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $517.03.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $389.58 on Tuesday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $362.21 and a twelve month high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $385.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $448.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.83.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 25.46%.

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.