Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Trading Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)’s share price traded up 0.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $827.35 and last traded at $823.66. 515,736 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 3,746,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $823.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $997.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $782.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $845.82. The company has a market cap of $776.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.45, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.41.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.22%.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LLY. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 87,091.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,463,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,041,631,000 after purchasing an additional 12,448,888 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 92,759.9% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,022,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,287 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 37,140.7% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 694,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,990,000 after buying an additional 692,303 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 126,531.5% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 678,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,991,000 after buying an additional 678,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 100.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,165,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,032,737,000 after purchasing an additional 584,866 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

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.