Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Given “Buy” Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial restated their buy rating on shares of Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $600.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $580.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on ELV. Barclays lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $584.00 to $621.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Elevance Health from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $572.00 to $574.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Elevance Health from $557.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $583.77.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $531.59 on Friday. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $412.00 and a fifty-two week high of $539.11. The stock has a market cap of $123.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $509.14 and a 200-day moving average of $483.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.54 by $0.10. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $42.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 37.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELV. Roundview Capital LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 2.9% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the first quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Elevance Health by 0.4% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,305,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Elevance Health by 52.1% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Elevance Health by 102.9% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.