Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $15.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $17.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ELAN. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elanco Animal Health presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $17.29.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELAN stock opened at $14.07 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.14. Elanco Animal Health has a fifty-two week low of $8.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.93. The company has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.31, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 27.94%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.01 per share, with a total value of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Elanco Animal Health news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,886,450. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Harrington acquired 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.85 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 81,094 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,245.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 337.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

About Elanco Animal Health

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.