Short Interest in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) Expands By 22.7%

by · The Markets Daily

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV – Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,764,383 shares, a growth of 22.7% from the November 30th total of 3,883,536 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,706,213 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,706,213 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

Shares of Elevance Health stock traded up $1.79 on Wednesday, reaching $350.59. The stock had a trading volume of 855,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,531,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $334.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $328.80. The stock has a market cap of $77.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.52. Elevance Health has a fifty-two week low of $273.71 and a fifty-two week high of $458.75.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $50.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.26 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 33.96 EPS for the current year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Elevance Health during the second quarter valued at about $1,148,379,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 5,825,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,265,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152,440 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,576,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,478,857,000 after purchasing an additional 901,626 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,998,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,029,000 after purchasing an additional 798,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the second quarter valued at approximately $293,141,000. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $297.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Elevance Health from $384.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $445.00 to $420.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $420.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $396.21.

Read Our Latest Report on ELV

Elevance Health Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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