MML Investors Services LLC Purchases 10,527 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 74,356 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,527 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $27,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,828,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Elevance Health by 39.6% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 10,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the third quarter worth $235,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 22.9% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter worth about $8,855,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % 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 Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE ELV opened at $424.44 on Monday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $416.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $409.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $96.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $529.00 price objective (down previously from $625.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $455.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.81.

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.