Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,650 shares during the quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $6,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,998,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,431,322,000 after purchasing an additional 141,747 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,621,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,473,000 after purchasing an additional 303,099 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,032,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,764,231,000 after purchasing an additional 455,946 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,022,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,410,219,000 after purchasing an additional 24,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,058,165,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total transaction of $60,667.27. Following the sale, the director owned 10,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,312,599.18. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $397.53 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $370.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $345.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $273.71 and a 12 month high of $426.98.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $12.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.74 by $1.84. The business had revenue of $49.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.21 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 2.62%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $11.97 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.850- EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 26.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 29.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ELV shares. Leerink Partners set a $364.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $435.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised Elevance Health to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $416.11.

About Elevance Health

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.