Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $575.00 to $585.00. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the stock. Elevance Health traded as high as $539.95 and last traded at $539.47, with a volume of 206072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $533.73.

ELV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (up from $580.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $557.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $584.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $574.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Elevance Health from $602.00 to $604.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $587.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total transaction of $7,531,605.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,791,460.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total value of $7,531,605.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,791,460.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $125.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $511.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $485.81.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.54 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $42.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.49 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 24.64%.

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.