Norges Bank Makes New $32.42 Million Investment in Elanco Animal Health Incorporated $ELAN

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in Elanco Animal Health, buying 1.43 million shares worth about $32.4 million in the fourth quarter and taking a 0.29% stake.
• Institutional interest in ELAN remains high, with 97.48% of shares owned by institutional investors; recent insider buying also included purchases by CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons and insider Rajeev A. Modi.
• Elanco reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.40 and revenue of $1.37 billion, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $28.20.

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,432,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,415,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.29% of Elanco Animal Health as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 9,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 7.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 97.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELAN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Elanco Animal Health from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, insider Rajeev A. Modi acquired 4,911 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.35 per share, with a total value of $99,938.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 160,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,272,524.20. This trade represents a 3.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons acquired 4,971 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.09 per share, with a total value of $99,867.39. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 171,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,454,897.39. This trade represents a 2.98% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Elanco Animal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELAN opened at $23.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.42. Elanco Animal Health Incorporated has a 1-year low of $13.15 and a 1-year high of $27.72. The firm has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. Elanco Animal Health's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

About Elanco Animal Health

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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