California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 608,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 184,970 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $224,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ELV. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Elevance Health by 57.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Tobam increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Elevance Health by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. StockNews.com raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $431.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $362.21 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $404.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.42.

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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

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.