Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Trims Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 287,936 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98,558 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $106,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ELV. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,135,014,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,355,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,947 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,039,612 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 6,817.8% during 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 period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in Elevance Health by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,875,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,060,901,000 after purchasing an additional 437,103 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ELV shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W lowered Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens downgraded Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $514.41.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $424.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $96.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $416.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted 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 return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS 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 is a boost 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 currently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.