True North Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

True North Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,483 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 258 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $2,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% in the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 266,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,246,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs & Co. CA raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 29,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,690,000 after purchasing an additional 7,646 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LLY shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial increased 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. Barclays reduced their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 target price for the company. 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 for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock opened at $784.78 on Friday. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $624.68 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $775.91 and a 200 day moving average of $850.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $745.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.84, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.86%.

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

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at $4,402,522.40. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% 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.