Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Stock Holdings Lifted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,545 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $10,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Elevance Health by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,261,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,855,750,000 after purchasing an additional 58,013 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Elevance Health by 13.1% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,214,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,243,000 after purchasing an additional 372,937 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Elevance Health by 1.8% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,143,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,583,000 after purchasing an additional 56,204 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,087,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,132,000 after acquiring an additional 27,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 1.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,784,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,212,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,322 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ELV. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $580.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $584.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $561.00 to $557.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $569.00.

Elevance Health Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of ELV stock opened at $531.67 on Thursday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $412.00 and a 1 year high of $533.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $508.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $5.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.60 by $0.02. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $42.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.23 earnings per share. Elevance Health’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.03 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 25.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.