Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Grows By 24.6%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the May 31st total of 1,830,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total value of $7,531,605.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,791,460.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,347,434,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at $467,141,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 158.1% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 844,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,054,000 after purchasing an additional 517,116 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth about $239,244,000. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the first quarter worth approximately $249,884,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Baird R W raised Elevance Health to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $643.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $621.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $615.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $611.36.

Elevance Health Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ELV traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $535.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,035,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,026,488. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $534.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $509.38. The firm has a market cap of $124.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Elevance Health has a 1 year low of $412.00 and a 1 year high of $550.34.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.54 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $42.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.49 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 37.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 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.