Korea Investment CORP Lowers Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Korea Investment CORP cut its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,224 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $57,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 1,711.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 53,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,858,000 after purchasing an additional 50,603 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position 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 buying an additional 2,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 597.2% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 9,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,462,000 after buying an additional 8,038 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.81.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV stock opened at $431.81 on Friday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $362.21 and a twelve month high of $567.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $403.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $422.91. The firm has a market cap of $98.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share 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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $766,745.11. This represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% 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.