Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Declines By 9.9%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,820,000 shares, a decrease of 9.9% from the November 15th total of 3,130,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,639,915.22. This trade represents a 46.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,687,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,557,759,000 after buying an additional 129,709 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Elevance Health by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,848,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,511,814,000 after acquiring an additional 85,770 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.0% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,609,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,396,814,000 after purchasing an additional 44,805 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 5.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,791,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,054,641,000 after purchasing an additional 190,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ELV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus cut shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $539.20.

Elevance Health Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of ELV traded down $7.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $366.25. The stock had a trading volume of 2,964,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,376. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $417.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $492.02. Elevance Health has a 12-month low of $363.54 and a 12-month high of $567.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $84.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.99 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 32.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.77%.

Elevance Health Company 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.