Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Purchases Shares of 139 Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 309.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,794,000 after purchasing an additional 538,978 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,574,000 after purchasing an additional 334,552 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the third quarter worth $129,221,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth $88,882,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ELV shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $405.40 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $517.03.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Elevance Health stock opened at $412.13 on Thursday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $362.21 and a 12-month high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $393.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $431.42. The stock has a market cap of $93.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. The trade was 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 the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.