Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 367,297 Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 367,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,522,000. Elevance Health accounts for 1.8% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ELV. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the second quarter worth approximately $970,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,765,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 207,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,597,000 after buying an additional 20,438 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 79,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,865,000 after buying an additional 5,772 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 37,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,059,000 after acquiring an additional 4,245 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $60,667.27. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ELV shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Elevance Health to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $363.00 to $498.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Elevance Health from $411.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Elevance Health from $352.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased 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. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $440.90.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV opened at $402.62 on Tuesday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.84 and a 1-year high of $436.24. The company has a market cap of $87.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $394.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $360.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $49.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. 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 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.