Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Increases Stock Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 186.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 668 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,245,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $514,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 266,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $834,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,202,000 after buying an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LLY has been the topic of several research reports. Berenberg Bank set a $970.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $1,146.00 target price on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com raised Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $970.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,009.72.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Eli Lilly and Company stock opened at $852.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $808.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.79, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $839.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $837.61. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $711.40 and a 52 week high of $972.53.

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

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

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total transaction of $818,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,778,521.60. This represents a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and 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.