Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Trading Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) shot up 1.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $854.39 and last traded at $847.05. 721,260 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,119,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $837.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LLY. Leerink Partners set a $950.00 target price on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $1,146.00 price target on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $970.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,009.72.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $797.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.73, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $834.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $840.69.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 85.24% and a net margin of 23.51%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total value of $818,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at $4,778,521.60. This represents a 14.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,407,908,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 100,387.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,202,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,016,110,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197,038 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,625,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,747,214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012,129 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,730,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,740,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter valued at $1,240,653,000. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.