Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $343.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $424.00 to $391.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $425.00 price objective on Elevance Health and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Elevance Health from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $390.55.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELV opened at $325.61 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $351.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.28. Elevance Health has a one year low of $273.71 and a one year high of $458.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $71.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.The business had revenue of $49.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 27.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ELV. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 94.9% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 76 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Elevance Health by 331.6% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 84 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 66.7% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.