Simplify Asset Management Inc. Acquires 3,526 Shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,762 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $4,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 5.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,791,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,054,641,000 after acquiring an additional 190,118 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 3.7% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,498,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,118,000 after buying an additional 123,802 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Elevance Health by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,247,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,607,000 after buying an additional 64,376 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Elevance Health by 34.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,062,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,698,000 after purchasing an additional 523,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Elevance Health by 15.5% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,058,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,115,301,000 after purchasing an additional 275,708 shares in the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Charles Morgan Kendrick, Jr. sold 7,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.14, for a total value of $3,205,182.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,915.22. This represents a 46.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE ELV traded down $4.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $402.14. The stock had a trading volume of 431,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,043. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Elevance Health, Inc. has a 1 year low of $397.98 and a 1 year high of $567.26. The stock has a market cap of $93.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $478.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $514.55.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 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 company had revenue of $44.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ELV. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $530.00 target price (down from $646.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Elevance Health from $622.00 to $501.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $539.20.

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.