Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Trims Stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP reduced its position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,261,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,855,750,000 after acquiring an additional 58,013 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,087,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,132,000 after acquiring an additional 27,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,784,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,212,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,322 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,416,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,052,175,000 after acquiring an additional 57,098 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,379,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,035,884,000 after acquiring an additional 160,524 shares during the period. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of Elevance Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up from $580.00) on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Elevance Health from $574.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Elevance Health from $557.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $587.42.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

ELV traded up $0.87 on Wednesday, reaching $533.79. 895,401 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,064,366. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $510.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $485.10. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $412.00 and a fifty-two week high of $539.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.78.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.54 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $42.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.49 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.64%.

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.