Ashford Capital Management Inc. Sells 40 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Ashford Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,090,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,089,563,000 after purchasing an additional 85,823 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 87,091.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,463,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,041,631,000 after buying an additional 12,448,888 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,115,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,417,970,000 after buying an additional 157,741 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,058,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,481,175,000 after buying an additional 169,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,581,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,242,296,000 after acquiring an additional 171,595 shares during the period. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on LLY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of 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. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,007.94.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock opened at $802.94 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $841.04 and a 200 day moving average of $871.97. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $561.65 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53. The company has a market capitalization of $762.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:LLY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is 56.22%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company 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.