Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 1,782 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,482 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $24,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Elevance Health during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Elevance Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $649.00 price objective for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $615.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $643.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $593.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Elevance Health from $628.00 to $631.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $604.29.

Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE:ELV traded down $2.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $541.91. 1,059,242 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,017,658. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $533.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $526.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $125.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.82. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 12-month low of $431.38 and a 12-month high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $10.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.99 by $0.13. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.89% and a return on equity of 20.64%. The firm had revenue of $43.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.64%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In related news, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total value of $17,033,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,478,674.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert L. Dixon, Jr. sold 305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.76, for a total transaction of $154,561.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,926,213.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gail Boudreaux sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.98, for a total value of $17,033,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,478,674.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,058 shares of company stock valued at $17,588,116. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health 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.