Wall Street Zen Upgrades Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) to "Buy"

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on LLY. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "buy" rating to a "reduce" rating and cut their target price for the company from $1,150.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $892.00 to $888.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,011.37.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

LLY stock traded up $15.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $738.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,102,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,643,048. The stock has a market cap of $699.74 billion, a PE ratio of 63.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $677.09 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53. The company's 50 day moving average is $776.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $799.96.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.64 by ($1.30). The business had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.77 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 23.51% and a return on equity of 85.24%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Eli Lilly and Company's payout ratio is currently 48.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total value of $818,240.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at $4,778,521.60. This trade represents a 14.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LLY. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 97.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 101,305,650 shares of the company's stock worth $83,669,349,000 after buying an additional 50,002,551 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 103,831.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,866,380 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,278,292,000 after purchasing an additional 14,852,076 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,407,908,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,613,912,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 100,387.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,202,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,016,110,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197,038 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company's stock.

About Eli Lilly and Company

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.