Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) is Empire Life Investments Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Empire Life Investments Inc. lowered its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,545 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,173 shares during the period. Elevance Health makes up approximately 2.2% of Empire Life Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $34,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 51,967.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 657,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,956,000 after acquiring an additional 656,344 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Elevance Health by 309.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,794,000 after buying an additional 538,978 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,972,000 after buying an additional 532,016 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Elevance Health by 16.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,574,000 after buying an additional 334,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Elevance Health by 6.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after buying an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE:ELV opened at $389.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $384.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.29. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. Equities research analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.05 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ELV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $517.03.

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.