Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Hits New 12-Month High at $17.05

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $17.05 and last traded at $16.96, with a volume of 5386640 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ELAN shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $12.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet raised Elanco Animal Health from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy 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 $16.71.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.76, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a negative net margin of 27.87% and a positive return on equity of 6.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director R David Hoover bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.14 per share, with a total value of $322,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 185,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,985,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELAN. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 50,600,324 shares of the company's stock worth $753,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,665 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,468,637 shares of the company's stock worth $737,083,000 after buying an additional 467,196 shares in the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 12.8% in the third quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,523,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,484,000 after buying an additional 1,759,556 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,095,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,920,000 after purchasing an additional 3,816,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Elanco Animal Health by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,625,707 shares of the company's stock worth $83,823,000 after buying an additional 622,696 shares in the last quarter. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elanco Animal Health Company Profile

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, an animal health company, innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers pet health disease prevention products, such as parasiticide and vaccine products that protect pets from worms, fleas, and ticks under the Seresto, Advantage, Advantix, and Advocate brands; pet health therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, ear infections, cardiovascular, and dermatology indications in canines and felines under the Galliprant and Claro brands; vaccines, antibiotics, parasiticides, and other products for use in poultry and aquaculture production, as well as nutritional health products, including enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics; and a range of vaccines, antibiotics, implants, parasiticides, and other products used in ruminant and swine production under the Rumensin and Baytril brands.