Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Down 10.7% in March

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,090,000 shares, a drop of 10.7% from the March 15th total of 2,340,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 478.3% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth $63,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth $109,435,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $580.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $561.00 to $557.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a 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 $569.00.

Elevance Health Trading Down 0.9 %

Elevance Health stock opened at $497.49 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $507.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.78. Elevance Health has a 52 week low of $412.00 and a 52 week high of $521.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $42.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.23 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 37.03 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.90%.

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.