Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 43 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 486 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 39,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,786 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Elevance Health by 85,533.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,972,000 after purchasing an additional 532,016 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 360,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,540,000 after buying an additional 87,717 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Elevance Health by 119.7% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 12,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,292,000 after purchasing an additional 6,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMI Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Elevance Health during the third quarter worth $1,294,000. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price target (down previously from $620.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $593.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Argus cut Elevance Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $539.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total transaction of $3,205,182.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. The trade was a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of ELV opened at $400.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $92.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $478.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $514.55. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $397.98 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.66 by ($1.29). Elevance Health had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 3.68%. The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is 23.77%.

Elevance Health Company 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.