Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $409.55, but opened at $425.13. Elevance Health shares last traded at $413.00, with a volume of 271,381 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ELV. Stephens cut Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $405.40 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $517.03.

Elevance Health Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $93.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $393.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.42.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. This represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ELV. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 16,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,091,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at $115,157,000. Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth $519,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.