Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Sells 2,966 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. decreased its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,118 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,966 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $9,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1,711.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 53,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,858,000 after purchasing an additional 50,603 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,328,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 597.2% in the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 9,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,462,000 after purchasing an additional 8,038 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ELV. Barclays raised their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.81.

Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $434.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $399.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.17.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. On average, equities analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Elevance Health Profile

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.