Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 3,902 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 610,693 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Elevance Health comprises about 0.5% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $287,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 86.8% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 278,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,281,000 after buying an additional 129,364 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 52,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,663,000 after purchasing an additional 9,199 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 244.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 7,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Elevance Health in the fourth quarter worth $2,235,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Elevance Health from $602.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays increased their price target on Elevance Health from $584.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $587.42.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELV traded down $2.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $537.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 700,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,198. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1-year low of $412.00 and a 1-year high of $542.07. The stock has a market cap of $124.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $486.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.54 by $0.10. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $42.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 24.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elevance Health news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $376,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Felicia F. Norwood sold 14,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.74, for a total value of $7,531,605.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,460 shares in the company, valued at $16,791,460.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Profile

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.