River Road Asset Management LLC Purchases 10,216 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,557 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,216 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $42,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,794,000 after buying an additional 538,978 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,574,000 after purchasing an additional 334,552 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in 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 buying an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $129,221,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,882,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:ELV opened at $409.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $391.45 and its 200-day moving average is $432.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.45. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 52 week low of $362.21 and a 52 week high of $567.26. The firm has a market cap of $93.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ELV. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $483.00 to $478.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $517.03.

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.