Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in Eli Lilly and Company $LLY

Key Points

• Legal & General Group trimmed its Eli Lilly stake by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, but it still owns 5.29 million shares worth about $5.69 billion, making LLY its 11th-largest holding.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on Eli Lilly: Goldman Sachs and Jefferies both raised their price targets, while the broader analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of about $1,220.
• The company’s latest results were strong, with earnings of $8.55 per share and $19.8 billion in revenue beating estimates, and revenue jumping 55.5% year over year. Eli Lilly also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.73 per share.

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,293,641 shares of the company's stock after selling 90,358 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company makes up 1.3% of Legal & General Group Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.56% of Eli Lilly and Company worth $5,688,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Miller Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 342.9% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 31 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Eli Lilly and Company

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

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its Buy rating on LLY and raised its price target to $1,283, signaling confidence in further upside. MarketScreener Latest Ratings
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies lifted its price target on Eli Lilly to $1,330, also implying meaningful upside from recent trading levels. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: New clinical updates across Lilly’s pipeline, including positive obesity conference data, Alzheimer’s study progress, and a new heart-failure trial, help reinforce the market’s view that Lilly has multiple growth drivers beyond its current diabetes and obesity drugs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Lilly also announced an acquisition of Engage Biologics, extending its gene-therapy ambitions; this supports long-term diversification, but the near-term stock impact is less direct. Eli Lilly’s Engage Biologics Deal Extends Genetic Bets Beyond Obesity Boom

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LLY shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Loop Capital set a $1,200.00 target price on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,300.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,183.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,220.37.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 0.1%

LLY stock opened at $1,066.59 on Monday. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $623.78 and a twelve month high of $1,133.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50-day moving average price is $942.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,004.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.97 by $1.58. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 105.77% and a net margin of 34.98%.The firm had revenue of $19.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. The business's quarterly 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 35.82 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Eli Lilly and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.58%.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

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.

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