Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Price Target to $330.00

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $400.00 to $330.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $492.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $428.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $447.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and set a $310.00 price target (down previously from $510.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, July 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.81.

Elevance Health Stock Up 4.5%

ELV stock opened at $308.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $69.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $273.71 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $331.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $381.53.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $8.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.30 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $49.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.12 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In related news, CEO Gail Boudreaux acquired 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $286.94 per share, with a total value of $2,438,990.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 151,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,333,678.80. This trade represents a 5.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,856,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,890,419,000 after buying an additional 704,790 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,618,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,917,004,000 after purchasing an additional 464,137 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 5,825,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,265,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152,440 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Elevance Health by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,880,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,559,000 after acquiring an additional 35,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Elevance Health by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,675,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,429,498,000 after acquiring an additional 324,399 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Company 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.