Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $426.98 and last traded at $404.3340, with a volume of 2506418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $424.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Elevance Health to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $352.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $317.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $416.11.

Elevance Health Trading Down 4.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $362.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $343.89.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $12.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.74 by $1.84. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The firm had revenue of $49.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.850- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 26.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,058,165,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,906,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668,679 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,610,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,274 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 145.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,693,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,903,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,368,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,390 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.