Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Trading Up 0.5% - Still a Buy?

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) rose 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $727.00 and last traded at $718.92. Approximately 1,324,806 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 3,565,388 shares. The stock had previously closed at $715.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,100.00 to $1,050.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "buy" rating to a "reduce" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $1,150.00 to $700.00 in a 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,011.37.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $695.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company's 50-day moving average is $801.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $808.28. 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 (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by ($1.30). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 85.24% and a net margin of 23.51%. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Eli Lilly and Company's payout ratio is presently 48.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,778,521.60. This represents a 14.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 97.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 50,002,551 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 6.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,224,392 shares of the company's stock worth $65,432,218,000 after purchasing an additional 4,975,395 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,382,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,389,651,000 after acquiring an additional 291,875 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 103,831.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,707,512 shares of the company's stock worth $10,495,261,000 after buying an additional 81,587 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

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.

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