Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Decreases Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,329 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for 1.4% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $20,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 53.3% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 117.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 46,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 24,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth $58,000. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 0.2 %

LLY traded up $1.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $788.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,153,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,643,049. The firm has a market capitalization of $748.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $612.70 and a 1-year high of $972.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $786.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $860.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is presently 64.86%.

Eli Lilly and Company Profile

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.