Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 30,442 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. $ELV

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,343 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,442 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $20,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,344,424,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth $1,246,349,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,058,165,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the second quarter worth about $688,469,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,289,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,906,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668,679 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ELV shares. Evercore reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $352.00 to $404.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $399.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $480.00 to $457.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.77, for a total transaction of $60,667.27. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,312,599.18. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE ELV opened at $399.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $395.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $361.82. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $274.84 and a one year high of $436.24. The firm has a market cap of $86.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $7.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.21 by $1.24. The company had revenue of $49.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.88 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 2.47%.The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 27.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $1.72 dividend. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.58%.

Elevance Health Company Profile

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.