Elevance Health shares rise as Q1 results beat expectations and 2026 adjusted EPS guidance increases

Elevance Health (ELV) is up 3.1% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The stock appears to be higher after the company reported first-quarter 2026 results that came in ahead of expectations and lifted its full-year 2026 adjusted EPS outlook. Investors may also be focusing on management’s comments about improved claims experience and greater visibility into the rest of the year, even as the company factored in estimated impacts from an ongoing CMS-related matter.

Details:

Elevance posted 1Q 2026 operating revenue of $49.5 billion (up 1.5% year over year) and adjusted diluted EPS of $12.58, which included roughly $1 per share of non-recurring investment income.

The company raised FY 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to at least $26.75, citing underlying business strength, actions to reduce medical costs, and improved visibility.

FY 2026 diluted EPS guidance was set at least $19.85, inclusive of the company’s estimate of the financial impact tied to the CMS matter.

In the quarter, operating expense metrics included a $935 million accrual reflecting the company’s current estimate of potential exposure related to the CMS notice.

Sources:

Elevance Health, SEC, Associated Press

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$ELV Insider Trading Activity

$ELV insiders have traded $ELV stock on the open market 3 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 2 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $ELV stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

CHARLES MORGAN JR KENDRICK (EVP & President, Commercial) sold 3,196 shares for an estimated $910,604
STEVEN H COLLIS purchased 3,000 shares for an estimated $869,519
AMY W SCHULMAN sold 26 shares for an estimated $7,475

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$ELV Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 628 institutional investors add shares of $ELV stock to their portfolio, and 787 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 7,196,465 shares (-75.4%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $2,522,720,805
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP added 1,668,679 shares (+25.2%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $584,955,423
PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ added 1,607,274 shares (+27.5%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $563,429,900
HARRIS ASSOCIATES L P added 1,604,821 shares (+50.3%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $562,570,001
CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS removed 1,367,274 shares (-46.3%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $479,297,900
INVESCO LTD. added 1,306,390 shares (+50.3%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $457,955,014
CITADEL ADVISORS LLC added 1,244,783 shares (+294.1%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $436,358,680

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$ELV Government Contracts

We have seen $260,356,143 of award payments to $ELV over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

PART A/PART B MEDICARE ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTOR (MAC) JURISDICTION K (JK): $86,075,650
J6 A/B MAC SERVICES: $79,174,247
NEXT GENERATION DESKTOP IGF::OT::IGF: $74,589,844
SPARC WILL BE THE MAJOR CONTRACT VEHICLE FOR CMS IT SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT HHS OPDIVS CAN ALSO MAKE USE OF SPA...: $11,890,083
THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE SUPPLIES AND/OR SERVICES TO PROVIDE A SINGLE FRONT-END SOLUTION FOR THE SUBMIS...: $4,213,107

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard.

$ELV Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $ELV stock 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 0 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $ELV stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

SENATOR MARKWAYNE MULLIN purchased up to $50,000 on 12/29.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard.

$ELV Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $ELV in the last several months. We have seen 5 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Barclays issued a "Overweight" rating on 01/30/2026
Wells Fargo issued a "Overweight" rating on 01/30/2026
TD Cowen issued a "Buy" rating on 11/26/2025
Mizuho issued a "Outperform" rating on 11/04/2025
JP Morgan issued a "Overweight" rating on 10/28/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $ELV, check out Quiver Quantitative's $ELV forecast page.

$ELV Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $ELV recently. We have seen 12 analysts offer price targets for $ELV in the last 6 months, with a median target of $391.0.

Here are some recent targets:

David Windley from Jefferies set a target price of $391.0 on 04/20/2026
David Macdonald from Truist Securities set a target price of $375.0 on 04/13/2026
Elizabeth Anderson from Evercore ISI Group set a target price of $345.0 on 04/08/2026
Ann Hynes from Mizuho set a target price of $350.0 on 03/11/2026
Lisa Gill from JP Morgan set a target price of $397.0 on 02/02/2026
Andrew Mok from Barclays set a target price of $393.0 on 01/30/2026
Stephen Baxter from Wells Fargo set a target price of $391.0 on 01/30/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.