BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 2,193,391 Shares of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated $ELAN

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets dramatically increased its Elanco Animal Health stake in the fourth quarter, buying 2.19 million additional shares and lifting its holdings to 2.25 million shares worth about $51 million.
• Elanco reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.40 versus the $0.34 consensus and revenue of $1.37 billion, up 14.9% year over year.
• Management and analysts appear cautiously optimistic: insiders bought shares, several firms raised price targets, and Wall Street currently rates the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target of $28.20.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Free Report) by 3,682.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,252,961 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,193,391 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.45% of Elanco Animal Health worth $50,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,586,708 shares of the company's stock worth $978,536,000 after purchasing an additional 759,623 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 8.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,708,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,276 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 16,468,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $331,669,000 after acquiring an additional 5,961,457 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,425,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,343,000 after acquiring an additional 640,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,787,394 shares of the company's stock worth $50,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.48% of the company's stock.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ELAN opened at $23.65 on Wednesday. Elanco Animal Health Incorporated has a 1 year low of $13.14 and a 1 year high of $27.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.33. The company has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.30, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 7.42% and a negative net margin of 4.95%.The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Elanco Animal Health has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.250-0.285 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.030-1.090 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 4,971 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.09 per share, for a total transaction of $99,867.39. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 171,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,454,897.39. This trade represents a 2.98% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Rajeev A. Modi purchased 4,911 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.35 per share, with a total value of $99,938.85. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 160,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,272,524.20. This trade represents a 3.15% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ELAN. KeyCorp lifted their target price on 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 price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elanco Animal Health has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.20.

Elanco Animal Health 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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