Pecaut & CO. Purchases Shares of 700 Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Pecaut & CO. purchased a new stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ELV stock opened at $434.44 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $399.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.17. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $362.21 and a twelve month high of $567.26. The company has a market capitalization of $98.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stephens downgraded Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value 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. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.