Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $389.29, but opened at $377.40. Elevance Health shares last traded at $381.30, with a volume of 235,511 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James set a $485.00 target price on shares of Elevance Health in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $520.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $585.00 to $478.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $600.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $605.00 to $555.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $536.53.

Elevance Health Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $89.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $388.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $468.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $8.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.66 by ($1.29). The company had revenue of $44.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.47 billion. Elevance Health had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 19.56%. Elevance Health’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.99 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.96 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELV. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Elevance Health by 51,967.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 657,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,956,000 after purchasing an additional 656,344 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 309.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 713,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,794,000 after acquiring an additional 538,978 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 85,533.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 532,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,972,000 after acquiring an additional 532,016 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 16.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,397,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,574,000 after acquiring an additional 334,552 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Elevance Health by 6.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,461,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,320,024,000 after acquiring an additional 286,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.24% of the company’s stock.

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.