American Century Companies Inc. Trims Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,839 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,222 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $31,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ELV. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Elevance Health by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 538,978 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the third quarter worth about $129,221,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,882,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $431.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $404.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.13. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday. Argus upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stephens downgraded Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

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.