Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys 11,816 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Free Report) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,168 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,816 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises approximately 1.4% of Employees Retirement System of Texas' investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $158,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 358.3% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 55 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LLY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. HSBC lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "buy" rating to a "reduce" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $1,150.00 to $700.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,100.00 to $1,050.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,011.37.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE LLY traded down $6.63 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $718.59. The stock had a trading volume of 2,937,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,620,354. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12 month low of $677.09 and a 12 month high of $972.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $681.03 billion, a PE ratio of 61.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $784.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $801.86.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. The business's revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Eli Lilly and Company's payout ratio is 48.82%.

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total transaction of $818,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,840 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% 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.