Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $23.74 and last traded at $23.4350, with a volume of 763721 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ELAN. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays began coverage on Elanco Animal Health in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Elanco Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.78.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 393.15, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.08.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a net margin of 0.78% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. 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 analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Elanco Animal Health

In other Elanco Animal Health news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.30 per share, for a total transaction of $213,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 131,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,764.90. This trade represents a 8.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 22,000 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $478,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 167,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,250. The trade was a 15.17% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 43,450 shares of company stock valued at $937,883 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELAN. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 434.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 126,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 102,686 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,502,000. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 46.4% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 49,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 15,754 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in Elanco Animal Health by 1,333.7% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 168,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,386,000 after buying an additional 156,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 65.5% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 248,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,543,000 after buying an additional 98,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

Elanco Animal Health Company Profile

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.