Eli Lilly and Company Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:LLY)

Key Points

• Eli Lilly saw unusually heavy options activity on Thursday, with traders buying 47,128 call options — about 20% above its typical daily volume. That suggests increased bullish speculation on the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley reiterating bullish ratings, though HSBC recently downgraded the stock and cut its price target. Overall, MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $1,227 target.
• The company continues to post strong operating results, including quarterly EPS of $8.55 versus $6.97 expected and revenue growth of 55.5% year over year. Lilly also announced a $1.73 quarterly dividend and has key obesity/diabetes updates that may support future growth.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 47,128 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 20% compared to the typical daily volume of 39,211 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LLY. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,283.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. HSBC cut Eli Lilly and Company from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $1,070.00 to $850.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $1,344.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,227.00.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LLY traded up $47.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1,130.29. The company had a trading volume of 2,982,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,177,117. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $948.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,007.67. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12 month low of $623.78 and a 12 month high of $1,149.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.09, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.48.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $1.58. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 34.98% and a return on equity of 105.77%. The business had revenue of $19.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 35.500-37.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 35.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Eli Lilly and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allen Capital Group LLC raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.8% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the company's stock worth $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.0% in the first quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 1,281 shares of the company's stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the first quarter worth about $1,297,000. Summitry LLC raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 76.0% in the first quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 1,477 shares of the company's stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the first quarter worth about $5,121,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company's stock.

Key Eli Lilly and Company News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CVS is restoring coverage for Zepbound and adding Foundayo, expanding access to Lilly’s obesity treatments and potentially boosting sales. CVS brings back coverage for Lilly's obesity drug Zepbound
• Positive Sentiment: Lilly announced new Phase 3 and other clinical data for Foundayo, Mounjaro, and retatrutide, highlighting strong efficacy and broadening the company’s cardiometabolic pipeline. Lilly to present new data on Foundayo, Mounjaro and retatrutide...
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option buying suggests traders are positioning for more upside in LLY shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive, with upgrades and bullish notes pointing to Lilly’s long-term obesity and diabetes growth potential.
• Neutral Sentiment: Lilly is also pushing into vaccines through multiple acquisitions, which diversifies the story but is still a longer-term strategic move.
• Neutral Sentiment: A contrarian article argued Novo Nordisk may be a better value right now, noting Lilly’s valuation is already rich.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company NYSE: LLY is a global pharmaceutical company founded in 1876 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and therapies for patients worldwide. Eli Lilly maintains operations and commercial presence across North America, Europe, Asia and other regions, serving both developed and emerging markets. The company has been led in recent years by President and Chief Executive Officer David A.

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.