Westpac Banking Corp Purchases Shares of 1,501 Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WealthCollab LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 42.2% in the first quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC increased its stake in Elevance Health by 3.5% during the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 837 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Trading Up 1.1%

ELV opened at $400.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $394.76 and its 200-day moving average is $359.92. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.84 and a 52-week high of $436.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. The business had revenue of $49.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.88 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 14.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.84 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 30.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total value of $60,667.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Elevance Health from $399.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $364.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $439.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.90.

About Elevance Health

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.