Choate Investment Advisors Decreases Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Choate Investment Advisors lessened its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 27.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 753 shares of the company’s stock after selling 291 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Elevance Health were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELV has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens cut Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Elevance Health Trading Up 2.5 %

ELV opened at $431.29 on Tuesday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $396.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.94. The firm has a market cap of $98.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 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 expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Elevance Health 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.