Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $435.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $405.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ELV. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Elevance Health from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $358.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $397.00 to $411.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $317.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $393.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.58.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock opened at $376.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $310.12 and a 200 day moving average of $331.59. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $273.71 and a 12 month high of $424.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $12.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.74 by $1.84. The company had revenue of $49.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.21 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 2.62%.Elevance Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $11.97 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.850- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 26.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Elevance Health by 7.7% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 163,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,666,000 after buying an additional 11,745 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co increased its position in Elevance Health by 41.5% during the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Elevance Health by 6.9% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 65,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,650,000 after buying an additional 4,272 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Elevance Health by 5.0% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,478,000 after buying an additional 2,012 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Elevance Health by 111.8% during the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 43,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,080,000 after buying an additional 23,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Elevance Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded ELV from “neutral” to “buy” and raised its price target to $435 (from $405), signaling renewed conviction and implying meaningful upside versus the current share level. BofA upgrade (TickerReport)
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan bumped its price target to $411 and maintained an “overweight” rating, another major shop lifting estimates and supporting the stock. JPMorgan raises PT to $411 (MarketScreener)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at multiple outlets upgraded Elevance (and peer Centene) on expectations that Medicaid margins will recover—this reduces near?term reimbursement risk priced into insurers. Analysts upgrade Elevance, Centene (Investing.com)
• Positive Sentiment: Investor and media focus on Elevance’s Q1 earnings call (analyst questions highlight management’s guidance and margin tempo) reinforces confidence in the beat and FY guidance that management provided. 5 must-read analyst questions from Q1 call (MSN)
• Positive Sentiment: Insiders purchased roughly US$3.68M of stock, a bullish signal that insiders are confident in the company’s outlook. Insider buying (Yahoo Finance)
• Neutral Sentiment: Hotchkis & Wiley’s investor letter says ELV is positioned for long?term margin improvement but notes medium?term headwinds; useful context but not a catalyst by itself. Hotchkis & Wiley investor letter summary (InsiderMonkey)
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer earnings (Centene beat and raised outlook; UHS beat) support a healthier healthcare sector narrative, which can buoy ELV sentiment but are indirect drivers. Centene Q1 beat (Zacks) UHS Q1 beat (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader ETF/sector commentary (IHF coverage) mentions providers exposure including ELV but is background rather than company?specific news. IHF ETF piece (Zacks)

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.