Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $1.87 Million Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,072 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $1,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.3 %

Elevance Health stock opened at $391.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $452.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $362.21 and a fifty-two week high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 34.05 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is 25.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens cut shares of Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $643.00 to $551.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James set a $485.00 price objective on Elevance Health in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.