First Eagle Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,225,339 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,039,612 shares during the period. Elevance Health accounts for about 2.7% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $1,189,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ELV. Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 71 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Tobam increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Elevance Health by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ELV shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $517.03.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $417.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $394.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $431.33. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $362.21 and a 1 year high of $567.26. The company has a market capitalization of $94.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. 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 (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Elevance Health news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,745.11. This trade represents a 19.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value 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 trade 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 owned by insiders.

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.