Allstate Corp Invests $2.56 Million in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,555,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,926,028,000 after buying an additional 138,380 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,687,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,557,759,000 after acquiring an additional 129,709 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,848,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,511,814,000 after purchasing an additional 85,770 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after purchasing an additional 286,905 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Elevance Health by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of Elevance Health 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 $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total transaction of $1,388,635.20. Following the sale, 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. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ELV. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday. Truist Financial cut their price target on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.81.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV opened at $431.84 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $98.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $404.45 and a 200 day moving average of $421.28. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

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

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.