Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Decreases By 23.7%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, a drop of 23.7% from the February 13th total of 3,250,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.81.

Elevance Health Trading Down 2.2 %

Elevance Health stock traded down $9.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $426.55. The stock had a trading volume of 122,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,298,883. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $397.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $427.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $362.21 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results 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 forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This trade represents 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Elevance Health during the third quarter worth about $518,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 192,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,890,000 after purchasing an additional 14,502 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 104,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,199,000 after purchasing an additional 21,708 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC now owns 2,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Focused Investors LLC now owns 501,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,832,000 after purchasing an additional 33,500 shares in the last quarter. 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.