Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $18.66 Million Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,579 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $18,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $421.72 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 one year low of $362.21 and a one year high of $567.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $395.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.79.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ELV. StockNews.com lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $517.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. The trade was a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.