Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Short Interest Update

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,820,000 shares, a decline of 9.9% from the November 15th total of 3,130,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Elevance Health stock traded down $7.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $366.25. 2,964,396 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,234,376. Elevance Health has a 1-year low of $363.54 and a 1-year high of $567.26. The firm has a market cap of $84.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $417.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $492.02. 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 (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). The company 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%. Elevance Health’s 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 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 23.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were 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 owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. This trade 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. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,016 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Elevance Health by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ELV. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Raymond James set a $485.00 target price on Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays cut their price target on Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $539.20.

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.