Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 46,619 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 4,257.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,714 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,619 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $22,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ELV. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Elevance Health by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 1.0% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 2,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Up 0.1 %

ELV traded up $0.77 on Thursday, reaching $525.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,245,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,936. The company has a market capitalization of $122.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.78. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $412.00 and a fifty-two week high of $542.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $513.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $488.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.54 by $0.10. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $42.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 24.64%.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total transaction of $7,531,605.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,791,460.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total value of $7,531,605.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,791,460.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ELV. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $574.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $557.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $584.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $587.42.

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.