Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $36.29 Million Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 68.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 98,378 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,893 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $36,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,116 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV opened at $431.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $403.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.91. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52-week low of $362.21 and a 52-week high of $567.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 18.28%. Sell-side analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Argus raised shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.81.

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.