Blair William & Co. IL Sells 8,580 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 54.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,056 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,580 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $2,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Tobam lifted its position in Elevance Health by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $433.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Elevance Health, Inc. has a twelve month low of $362.21 and a twelve month high of $567.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $406.34 and a 200-day moving average of $418.81.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.81.

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.