Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Takes Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $899,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 266,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,245,000 after buying an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,246,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,154,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $887,014,000 after acquiring an additional 138,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth $34,328,000. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,060.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE LLY traded down $18.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $763.78. The company had a trading volume of 3,930,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,174,059. The company has a market capitalization of $725.07 billion, a PE ratio of 82.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $793.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $863.35. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $609.59 and a 1-year high of $972.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The company had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is 64.86%.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total value of $723,042.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at $4,402,522.40. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes; and Zepbound for obesity.