Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,002.22.

Several brokerages have recently commented on LLY. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $885.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eli Lilly and Company

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.3% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,759,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 63.3% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 190,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,893,000 after buying an additional 74,028 shares during the last quarter. Wisconsin Capital Management LLC increased its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Capital Management LLC now owns 7,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,697,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 22.2% during the second quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of LLY opened at $773.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $788.56 and its 200-day moving average is $861.70. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12-month low of $609.59 and a 12-month high of $972.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $733.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.41.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted 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). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.86%.

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.