Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Eli Lilly: 25 of 30 brokerages rate the stock a buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average 12-month price target of approximately $1,305.
• Strong operating performance is being driven by obesity and diabetes drugs. Quarterly revenue rose 47.7% year over year to $22.97 billion, while EPS of $8.38 significantly exceeded the $6.40 consensus estimate.
• Valuation and pricing are key risks. Lilly faces competition and a premium valuation, while U.S. pricing declined 9% year over year despite volume growth offsetting the impact; insiders have also sold $15.96 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,304.8571.

A number of research firms have commented on LLY. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,500.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,251.00 to $1,334.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,280.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group set a $1,376.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a "reduce" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Donald Zakrowski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,185.01, for a total transaction of $2,370,020.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,808,325.26. This represents a 56.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Patrik Jonsson sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,628,139.70. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,500 shares of company stock valued at $15,958,170. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LLY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter worth about $12,976,634,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,522,666,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,667,180,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 321.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,963,490 shares of the company's stock worth $1,805,959,000 after buying an additional 1,497,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 353.7% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,550,234 shares of the company's stock worth $1,425,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208,510 shares during the period. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Eli Lilly and Company News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Berenberg upgraded Lilly to Buy and raised its price target to $1,400 from $1,220, implying roughly 20% upside. The firm cited Lilly’s strong returns on research investment and growth opportunities in the obesity-treatment market. Eli Lilly Gets a Big Price Target Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for Zepbound and Mounjaro continues to drive exceptional growth. Lilly’s second-quarter revenue increased 48% year over year, reinforcing investor expectations that its GLP-1 franchise can support earnings growth and its 2026 outlook. Can Volume Keep Covering Eli Lilly's Price Cuts?
• Positive Sentiment: Lilly is expanding its drug-discovery ecosystem. Agreements with Twist Bioscience and Ginkgo Datapoints will provide antibody and laboratory data for Lilly TuneLab’s AI/ML models, potentially improving future antibody-development capabilities. Lilly also signed a genetic-medicine agreement with QurCan and participated in Circle Pharma’s $92.5 million financing. Twist Bioscience TuneLab Agreement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to debate whether Lilly’s substantial long-term share-price gains are justified by future cash generation. The company remains a favored buy-and-hold healthcare growth stock, but expectations are already elevated. Eli Lilly Stock Could Be a Bargain
• Negative Sentiment: Pricing is becoming a growing concern. Lilly’s U.S. price declined 9% year over year, excluding rebate-estimate changes. Volume has so far offset the reduction, but investors may worry about earnings and revenue pressure if volume growth eventually slows.
• Negative Sentiment: Competition from Novo Nordisk and other obesity-drug developers, along with Lilly’s premium valuation, could limit further upside. Reports about payments to physicians to promote GLP-1 drugs may also create reputational and regulatory overhang. LLY Stock Down Around 7% in a Month

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE LLY opened at $1,152.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $1,177.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,076.26. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $712.05 and a 52-week high of $1,292.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.66, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.50.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $22.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.82 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 97.83% and a net margin of 33.53%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.31 EPS. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 35.500-36.500 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 36.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders 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 was Friday, August 14th. Eli Lilly and Company's payout ratio is presently 23.22%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.