Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Position in Elanco Animal Health Incorporated $ELAN

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management increased its Elanco Animal Health stake by 1,222% in the fourth quarter, ending with 83,853 shares worth about $1.9 million. Other institutional investors also boosted or initiated positions, and hedge funds and institutions own 97.48% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mostly positive, with several firms raising price targets and maintaining buy/overweight ratings. MarketBeat reports a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.20.
• Elanco reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.40 versus $0.34 expected and revenue of $1.37 billion versus $1.28 billion expected. The company also saw insider buying from both its CEO and another executive, signaling confidence in the stock.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Free Report) by 1,222.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,853 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 77,510 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Elanco Animal Health were worth $1,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 364.5% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 98,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 76,920 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the third quarter valued at about $2,383,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the third quarter valued at about $2,215,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 266.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,918,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,839 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 21.3% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 602,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,136,000 after purchasing an additional 105,632 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ELAN shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Elanco Animal Health from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Elanco Animal Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.20.

Insider Activity

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

Elanco Animal Health Trading Up 3.9%

NYSE ELAN opened at $23.71 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $23.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.30. Elanco Animal Health Incorporated has a 12 month low of $12.97 and a 12 month high of $27.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.41, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.69.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a negative net margin of 4.95% and a positive return on equity of 7.42%. Elanco Animal Health's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ELAN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.