Meritage Portfolio Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 88.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,237 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ELV. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 4.2% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 7.5% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.4% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 46.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 95 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 12.7% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE ELV opened at $389.94 on Friday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $362.21 and a 1 year high of $567.26. The firm has a market cap of $90.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.83. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $386.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.94.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. 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 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ELV. Mizuho reduced their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $589.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $517.03.

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.