Almanack Investment Partners LLC. Cuts Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Almanack Investment Partners LLC. reduced its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,245,000 after buying an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $236,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs & Co. CA grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 35.2% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LLY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $997.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE LLY opened at $878.09 on Monday. 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 has a twelve month low of $711.40 and a twelve month high of $972.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $789.87 and a 200 day moving average of $843.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $833.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.99, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.42.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 23.51% and a return on equity of 86.26%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.33 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.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is currently 51.24%.

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.