Elevance Health Q1 EPS Forecast Lifted by Leerink Partnrs

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs upped their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Elevance Health in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 16th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $11.57 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $10.97. The consensus estimate for Elevance Health’s current full-year earnings is $33.96 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Elevance Health’s Q2 2025 earnings at $10.17 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $11.83 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $54.20 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $62.23 EPS.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%.

ELV has been the topic of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Stephens downgraded shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $518.00 price objective on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.81.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $424.44 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $416.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $410.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.2% in the first quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Tobam boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Elevance Health by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.