Variant Private Wealth LLC Invests $218,000 in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Variant Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LLY. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 87,091.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 92,759.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 692,303 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 126,531.5% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 678,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,991,000 after purchasing an additional 678,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 100.7% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:LLY opened at $874.12 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $801.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $846.75. The company has a market cap of $829.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.65, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $711.40 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 23.51% and a return on equity of 86.26%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 0.69%. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is 51.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LLY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,007.94.

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.