Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Update

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,670,000 shares, a decrease of 16.5% from the July 31st total of 2,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total transaction of $154,561.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,926,213.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Elevance Health news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total transaction of $154,561.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,926,213.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total transaction of $17,033,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,478,674.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,058 shares of company stock valued at $17,588,116 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $593.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $624.00 to $589.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $649.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $604.29.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE ELV traded up $4.80 during trading on Monday, reaching $556.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,226,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,017,117. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $129.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.84. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $431.38 and a twelve month high of $557.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $532.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $525.65.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.99 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $43.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.99 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 20.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 37.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 24.64%.

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.