StockNews.com Upgrades Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) to Buy

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ELV. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $536.53.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV traded down $1.00 on Friday, reaching $384.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,696,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,120. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $388.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.84. Elevance Health has a 1 year low of $362.21 and a 1 year high of $567.26. 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 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). The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 32.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth $1,717,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,311,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.