Westpac Banking Corp Buys Shares of 1,501 Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the second quarter worth $7,344,424,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,906,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668,679 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,610,261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607,274 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,032,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,764,231,000 after purchasing an additional 455,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV opened at $400.66 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $394.76 and its 200-day moving average is $359.92. The stock has a market cap of $86.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.84 and a twelve month high of $436.24.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $49.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.72 per share. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $480.00 to $457.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial set a $450.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $363.00 to $498.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup raised Elevance Health to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $364.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.90.

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.