Bailard Inc. Trims Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Bailard Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 73.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,677 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,609 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,794,000 after purchasing an additional 538,978 shares during the period. 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. 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. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the third quarter worth about $129,221,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 49,164.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 231,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,234,000 after acquiring an additional 230,581 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Up 0.6 %

Elevance Health stock opened at $397.68 on Wednesday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $362.21 and a 12 month high of $567.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $388.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $436.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $90.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.83.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. Equities analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $405.40 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $517.03.

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.