Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) Short Interest Up 49.0% in March

Key Points

• Short interest up 49% in March to 25,535,642 shares (about 5.2% of shares sold short), with a short-interest ratio of 3.5 days based on average daily volume.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own roughly 97.48% of Elanco’s stock, while recent analyst activity has trended positive—consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $27.67 after multiple upgrades and raised targets.
• Elanco recently beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.13 vs. $0.11; revenue $1.14B vs. $1.09B), reported 12.2% year-over-year revenue growth, and issued Q1 2026 guidance of $0.33–$0.36 and FY 2026 guidance of $1.00–$1.06 EPS.

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 25,535,642 shares, a growth of 49.0% from the March 15th total of 17,135,901 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,374,371 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 5.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELAN. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Elanco Animal Health by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Elanco Animal Health by 2,563.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Elanco Animal Health by 136.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,882 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Elanco Animal Health by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Elanco Animal Health in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELAN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Elanco Animal Health from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.67.

Elanco Animal Health Price Performance

Shares of Elanco Animal Health stock traded up $0.26 on Tuesday, hitting $24.12. 2,611,309 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,998,131. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $24.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.88. Elanco Animal Health has a 12-month low of $8.02 and a 12-month high of $27.72.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a negative net margin of 4.92% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Elanco Animal Health has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.330-0.36 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.060 EPS. Analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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