Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,850,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the October 15th total of 2,670,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE ELV traded down $6.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $394.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 704,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,171. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $472.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $512.56. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $394.51 and a twelve month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). The company had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.99 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 target price (down from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $539.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. This represents a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 39,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,786 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,972,000 after acquiring an additional 532,016 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 51,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,600,000 after purchasing an additional 33,231 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 360,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,540,000 after purchasing an additional 87,717 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 24.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 41,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,822,000 after purchasing an additional 8,379 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Elevance Health

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.