Stephens Inc. AR Cuts Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,715 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $27,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 53,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,285,000 after buying an additional 2,226 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 546 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 16,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,927,000 after acquiring an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on LLY shares. Barclays cut their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $997.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Down 1.1 %

LLY stock opened at $868.57 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $789.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $843.19. The stock has a market cap of $824.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.17, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $711.40 and a twelve month high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 23.51% and a return on equity of 86.26%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.33 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.41%.

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.