Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $1.37 EPS

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $11.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.60 by $1.37, Zacks reports. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. The business had revenue of $48.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.26 billion.

Elevance Health Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $405.68 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $417.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $409.20. Elevance Health has a 12-month low of $362.21 and a 12-month high of $567.26. The firm has a market cap of $91.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ELV. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Baird R W lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $518.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, March 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.81.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% 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.