Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Grows By 9.8%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,130,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the October 31st total of 2,850,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Elevance Health Trading Down 1.3 %

ELV stock traded down $5.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $402.85. The company had a trading volume of 705,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,146. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $442.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $502.21. The stock has a market cap of $93.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.83. Elevance Health has a 12 month low of $391.02 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 23.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Argus downgraded Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price objective (down from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $539.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. The trade was a 46.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elevance Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 39,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,360,000 after buying an additional 3,786 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,972,000 after buying an additional 532,016 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 209,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,127,000 after buying an additional 9,916 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 104,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,199,000 after buying an additional 21,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position 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 valued at $26,600,000 after buying an additional 33,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.