Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 61,993 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,846 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $47,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LLY. Register Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 8,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,820,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,992,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd now owns 1,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $997.22.

Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total value of $723,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:LLY opened at $804.87 on Wednesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $637.00 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53. The stock has a market cap of $764.08 billion, a PE ratio of 87.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $778.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $847.30.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. Eli Lilly and Company’s revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.22%.

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

Eli Lilly and Company 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.