Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Grows Stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in Eli Lilly by 67.0% in the first quarter, now holding shares valued at $1.26 million.
• The company reported earnings of $3.34 per share for the most recent quarter, missing estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 45.2%.
• HSBC downgraded Eli Lilly from a "buy" to a "reduce" rating, lowering the price target significantly from $1,150 to $700.

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Free Report) by 67.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,533 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 210.0% in the first quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 31 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 180.0% during the 1st quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 42 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 25.5% in the first quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 59 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LLY shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. HSBC downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "buy" rating to a "reduce" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $1,150.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $936.00 to $942.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $892.00 to $888.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,012.56.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock traded up $2.00 on Wednesday, hitting $764.95. The company had a trading volume of 2,065,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,771,090. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $724.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $773.36 and a 200-day moving average of $800.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $677.09 and a 1 year high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.64 by ($1.30). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 85.51%. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Eli Lilly and Company's payout ratio is 48.82%.

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.