Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Up 9.8% in November

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,130,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the October 31st total of 2,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ELV shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Argus downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price target (down previously from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $539.20.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,639,915.22. This represents a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Ocean LLC grew its stake in Elevance Health by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ELV traded down $6.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $401.88. 866,826 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,189,722. The stock has a market cap of $93.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $442.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $502.21. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $391.02 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). The business had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Elevance Health will post 32.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.