Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Lowers Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 63,827 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,390 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $23,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,687,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,557,759,000 after purchasing an additional 129,709 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,848,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,511,814,000 after purchasing an additional 85,770 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,609,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,396,814,000 after purchasing an additional 44,805 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,574,000 after purchasing an additional 334,552 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at $766,745.11. This represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Trading Up 1.6 %

Elevance Health stock opened at $417.77 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $394.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.33. The company has a market cap of $94.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $362.21 and a 52-week high of $567.26. 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 (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. Analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 26.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ELV shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $517.03.

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.