ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $48.39 Million Stock Position in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,607 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Elevance Health accounts for about 2.5% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Elevance Health were worth $48,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,261,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,855,750,000 after purchasing an additional 58,013 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,214,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,243,000 after buying an additional 372,937 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Elevance Health by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,143,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,583,000 after buying an additional 56,204 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,087,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,456,132,000 after buying an additional 27,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 1.7% in the third 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. 89.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Elevance Health

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $376,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,554,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV stock traded up $6.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $531.59. 1,791,392 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,063,187. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $123.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $509.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $483.22. Elevance Health, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $412.00 and a fifty-two week high of $539.11.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $10.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.54 by $0.10. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 3.49%. The firm had revenue of $42.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 37.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Elevance Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Elevance Health from $602.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Elevance Health from $574.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Elevance Health from $557.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Elevance Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $583.77.

About Elevance Health

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.