Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $755.00, but opened at $785.20. Eli Lilly and Company shares last traded at $783.67, with a volume of 996,379 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LLY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $884.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. 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 company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,007.94.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $856.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $869.83. The stock has a market cap of $748.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $11.44 billion during 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%. Eli Lilly and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LLY. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 87,091.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,463,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,041,631,000 after buying an additional 12,448,888 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 92,759.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,022,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,774,000 after buying an additional 1,021,287 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 90,438.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 937,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,403,000 after buying an additional 936,033 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 37,140.7% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 694,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,990,000 after buying an additional 692,303 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 71.6% during the 2nd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,512,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,825,000 after buying an additional 631,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

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.