Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Price Target Raised to $1,100.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $970.00 to $1,100.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

LLY has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Berenberg Bank set a $970.00 price target on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Leerink Partners set a $950.00 price target on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,007.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of LLY stock opened at $930.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $822.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $848.61. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $711.40 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $881.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 23.51% and a return on equity of 85.24%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors 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 is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is currently 51.24%.

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

Institutional Trading of Eli Lilly and Company

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,248,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,320,226,000 after buying an additional 475,530 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,382,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,389,651,000 after purchasing an additional 291,875 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,625,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,747,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012,129 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $8,407,908,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,757,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,304,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% 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.