Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV Stock: Machina Capital S.A.S. Reduces Position

Machina Capital S.A.S. decreased its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 39.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,554 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,335 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $2,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 6.5% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 66,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,848,000 after buying an additional 4,077 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the third quarter worth approximately $61,009,000. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 13,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,088,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.6% during the third quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its position in Elevance Health by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,556,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In related news, EVP Ratnakar Lavu sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.00, for a total value of $572,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,533,560. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 10,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.13, for a total transaction of $4,658,335.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,766,949.47. This trade represents a 34.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $430.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $414.63 and a 200 day moving average of $374.40. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.84 and a 52 week high of $450.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.71 by $2.28. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.55% and a return on equity of 14.97%. The business had revenue of $50.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 29.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 29.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ELV shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $424.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $469.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Elevance Health from $404.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $451.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.48.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc. is a U.S. health benefits and services company. Formerly known as Anthem, Inc., it adopted the Elevance Health name in 2022 while retaining the Anthem brand for many of its health plans. The company offers medical, pharmacy, dental, vision and behavioral health coverage, including plans for individuals and employers as well as programs serving Medicare and Medicaid members. Its services also include care management, pharmacy benefit services and other health-related capabilities through its Carelon business.