New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 1,400 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for 1.0% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $29,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 12,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 64,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,993,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter valued at $533,000. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 102,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,359,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LLY. StockNews.com raised Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on 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, January 28th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $997.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE LLY opened at $844.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $802.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.42. 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 50-day moving average price of $794.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $844.60. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $711.40 and a twelve month high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 86.26% and a net margin of 23.51%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 44.41%.

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.