Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Stock Price Down 2.7% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) dropped 2.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $380.37 and last traded at $382.43. Approximately 384,809 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,376,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $393.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ELV. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stephens restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $536.53.

Elevance Health Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $390.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $469.30. The company has a market cap of $89.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.84.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In related news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. The trade was a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,687,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,557,759,000 after purchasing an additional 129,709 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,848,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,511,814,000 after buying an additional 85,770 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,609,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,396,814,000 after acquiring an additional 44,805 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,024,000 after acquiring an additional 286,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,791,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,054,641,000 after acquiring an additional 190,118 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.