Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Trading Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)’s stock price rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $1,159.75 and last traded at $1,152.13. Approximately 1,880,384 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 3,014,791 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,137.82.

Key Headlines Impacting Eli Lilly and Company

Here are the key news stories impacting Eli Lilly and Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berenberg upgraded LLY to Buy and raised its price target to $1,400 from $1,220. The firm cited Lilly’s strong returns on research investment and significant growth opportunities in the obesity-treatment market, implying roughly 20% upside from recent levels. Eli Lilly Gets a Big Price Target Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Lilly’s TuneLab AI drug-discovery ecosystem is expanding. Agreements with Twist Bioscience and Ginkgo Bioworks will provide antibody and laboratory data to train Lilly’s AI/ML models, potentially improving drug-development productivity and strengthening its research pipeline. Twist Bioscience Lilly AI Drug Discovery Tie-Up
• Positive Sentiment: Lilly signed a genetic-medicine agreement with QurCan under which QurCan will optimize genetic therapeutics while Lilly oversees further research and commercialization, adding another potential source of pipeline growth. Eli Lilly and QurCan Sign Genetic Medicine Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Growth prospects remain centered on GLP-1 drugs, the Foundayo launch and retatrutide. Commentary suggests Lilly could capture additional demand as competition with Novo Nordisk expands the overall weight-loss treatment market. This Trend Is Excellent News for Eli Lilly
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to view LLY as a high-quality, relatively resilient growth stock, but its premium valuation means substantial future success may already be reflected in the share price. Buy-and-Hold Stocks Built to Weather a Volatile Market
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and rising competition are limiting enthusiasm. LLY has recently underperformed despite strong long-term gains, prompting debate over whether investors should buy the dip or remain cautious as rivals compete aggressively in GLP-1 treatments. LLY Stock Down Around 7% in a Month
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Lilly and Novo Nordisk paid more than 270,000 doctors to promote weight-loss drugs could create scrutiny around marketing practices and add regulatory or reputational risk. Lilly and Novo Nordisk Doctor Payments

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LLY. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,350.00 to $1,410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,283.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,119.00 to $1,232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,350.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,304.86.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 1.3%

The stock has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,178.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,075.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $8.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.40 by $1.98. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 33.53% and a return on equity of 97.83%. The firm had revenue of $22.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 35.500-36.500 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 36.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

In related news, EVP Patrik Jonsson sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,175.10, for a total value of $7,638,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 54,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,628,139.70. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Donald Zakrowski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,185.01, for a total value of $2,370,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,808,325.26. The trade was a 56.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,500 shares of company stock worth $15,958,170. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eli Lilly and Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 67,540,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,009,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,558 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,031,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,154,619,000 after acquiring an additional 61,851 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,976,634,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,522,666,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.9% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,209,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,647,153,000 after buying an additional 137,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets medicines for a range of medical conditions. Its portfolio includes treatments for diabetes and obesity, oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular disease and other areas of significant unmet medical need.

The company’s products include Mounjaro and Trulicity for diabetes, Zepbound for chronic weight management, and insulin products such as Humalog. Lilly also markets Verzenio for certain breast cancers and Kisunla for the treatment of early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.