KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 81,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,094,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 460.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,560,000 after buying an additional 4,044 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 57.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,356,000 after buying an additional 3,054 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 854 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 188,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,798,000 after buying an additional 13,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,786,000 after buying an additional 7,641 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Penczek sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.13, for a total value of $183,902.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,847 shares in the company, valued at $766,745.11. The trade was a 19.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $396.30, for a total value of $1,388,635.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,970.80. This represents a 25.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $427.27 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $400.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86. 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 1 year low of $362.21 and a 1 year high of $567.26.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.04. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 3.38%. Analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 33.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial cut their target price 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Elevance Health from $501.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens lowered Elevance Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $440.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Elevance Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.81.

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.