National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 848.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 250,872 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 224,425 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $92,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,947 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6,817.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 908,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,254,000 after purchasing an additional 895,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,794,000 after purchasing an additional 538,978 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Stephens cut Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.4 %

ELV opened at $433.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $362.21 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $406.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $418.81. The stock has a market cap of $98.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results 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, research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health 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.