First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 68.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,512 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $2,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,906,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668,679 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,446,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,610,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,274 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,032,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,764,231,000 after purchasing an additional 455,946 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Elevance Health by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,022,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,410,219,000 after buying an additional 24,271 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,903,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,368,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,390 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ELV shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Elevance Health from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $364.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on Elevance Health from $435.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $450.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total transaction of $60,667.27. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $389.29 on Thursday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $273.71 and a 52-week high of $436.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $399.36 and a 200-day moving average of $356.20.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $49.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.08 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 30.58%.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.