Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.51, but opened at $10.83. Elanco Animal Health shares last traded at $11.05, with a volume of 2,055,507 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a net margin of 4.60% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.20 per share, for a total transaction of $102,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 111,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,136,881.80. This trade represents a 9.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 791.7% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 92.2% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elanco Animal Health Trading Up 7.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.04, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.49.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, an animal health company, innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers pet health disease prevention products, such as parasiticide and vaccine products that protect pets from worms, fleas, and ticks under the Seresto, Advantage, Advantix, and Advocate brands; pet health therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, ear infections, cardiovascular, and dermatology indications in canines and felines under the Galliprant and Claro brands; vaccines, antibiotics, parasiticides, and other products for use in poultry and aquaculture production, as well as nutritional health products, including enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics; and a range of vaccines, antibiotics, implants, parasiticides, and other products used in ruminant and swine production under the Rumensin and Baytril brands.