Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Increases By 6.7%

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,850,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the October 15th total of 2,670,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $539.20.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. This represents a 46.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 51,967.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 657,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,956,000 after buying an additional 656,344 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 538,978 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Elevance Health by 85,533.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,016 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,062,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,698,000 after purchasing an additional 523,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $173,753,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock traded down $6.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $394.66. 704,058 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,164,171. The firm has a market cap of $91.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $394.51 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $472.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $512.56.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.77%.

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.