UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Stock

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 24.82% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ELAN. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Monday, December 29th. Argus upgraded Elanco Animal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elanco Animal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.44.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of ELAN traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $24.04. 39,146 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,554,182. The company has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a PE ratio of 402.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Elanco Animal Health has a 1-year low of $8.02 and a 1-year high of $25.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.99 and a 200 day moving average of $20.24.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 0.78%.The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Elanco Animal Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.910-0.940 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.090-0.120 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.30 per share, for a total transaction of $213,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 131,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,764.90. This represents a 8.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen purchased 6,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.64 per share, for a total transaction of $150,398.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,688,402.12. This represents a 5.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 43,450 shares of company stock valued at $937,883 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 2,563.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 136.7% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 80.3% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Elanco Animal Health by 79.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Elanco Animal Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Inc is a global leader in animal health dedicated to improving food and companion animal well-being. The company develops, manufactures and markets a range of products, including parasiticides, vaccines, antibiotics and feed additives designed to prevent and treat disease in livestock and pets. Elanco’s portfolio spans both food-producing animals—such as cattle, swine, poultry and aquaculture—and companion animals, with offerings that support parasite control, pain management and infectious disease prevention.

Originally founded as the animal health division of Eli Lilly and Company in the mid-20th century, Elanco was spun off into an independent publicly traded company in 2018.