Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Update

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,630,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the December 31st total of 3,450,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ELV. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $517.03.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $405.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $386.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $456.70. Elevance Health has a 1 year low of $362.21 and a 1 year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted 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 net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. On average, research analysts predict that Elevance Health will post 34.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. 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 dividend yield of 1.69%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 25.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Elevance Health by 66.9% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 75,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,166,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,533,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.