Morgan Stanley Cuts Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Price Target to $352.00

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $359.00 to $352.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $297.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $412.00 to $403.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Elevance Health from $420.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.21.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.3%

ELV opened at $340.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $334.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.31. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $273.71 and a twelve month high of $458.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $1.00. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $50.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ELV. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,251,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 44.8% during the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,438,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 14.3% during the second quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 14,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,768 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its position in Elevance Health by 17.0% during the second quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 27,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 11.3% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.