Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Acquires 64 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,488 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises approximately 1.5% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $5,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LLY. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 266,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,389,000 after buying an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,246,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs & Co. CA grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 29,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,690,000 after buying an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LLY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

LLY stock opened at $808.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $776.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $848.19. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $637.00 and a 1-year high of $972.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market cap of $767.20 billion, a PE ratio of 87.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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 given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is presently 56.22%.

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.