Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemElevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,649,830 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the January 29th total of 3,595,465 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,722,452 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,722,452 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.
Institutional Trading of Elevance Health
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ELV. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Elevance Health by 33.5% in the third quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,584,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 236.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 4,320 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 389,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,823,000 after buying an additional 59,743 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Elevance Health by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 104,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,712,000 after buying an additional 52,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,629,000. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $394.00 to $397.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Elevance Health from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $358.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $400.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research set a $425.00 price target on shares of Elevance Health and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Elevance Health from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elevance Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.55.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ELV
Elevance Health Stock Up 2.6%
Shares of NYSE:ELV traded up $7.43 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $291.46. 2,344,035 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,881,355. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $346.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $335.49. The firm has a market cap of $64.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. Elevance Health has a 52-week low of $273.71 and a 52-week high of $458.75.
Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $49.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.52 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.84 EPS. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.
Elevance Health Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.23%.
About Elevance Health
Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.
Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.