Washington Trust Bank Has $10.87 Million Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Washington Trust Bank grew its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,472 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $10,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Elevance Health in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 460.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,044 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 57.4% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,356,000 after acquiring an additional 3,054 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 67.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,076,000 after acquiring an additional 10,915 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:ELV opened at $427.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.27. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. Sell-side analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens cut Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.81.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total transaction of $183,902.59. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This trade represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.