Eli Lilly and Company’s (LLY) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reissued their buy rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on LLY. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $900.00 to $1,001.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $885.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Monday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Erste Group Bank raised Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $812.72.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of LLY stock opened at $901.26 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $804.54 and its 200 day moving average is $734.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $856.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.73, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.36. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $434.34 and a 52-week high of $909.42.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.94 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 56.98% and a net margin of 17.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is presently 76.58%.

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 17,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $902.38, for a total value of $15,547,105.02. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 97,556,910 shares in the company, valued at $88,033,404,445.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 17,229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $902.38, for a total value of $15,547,105.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,556,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,033,404,445.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Johna Norton sold 7,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.38, for a total value of $5,781,545.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,428 shares in the company, valued at $20,835,194.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 789,704 shares of company stock valued at $672,385,964 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eli Lilly and Company

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,992,890,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 61,268.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,342,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,802,530,000 after purchasing an additional 7,330,815 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the 1st quarter valued at about $932,797,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $682,139,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,745,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,592,709,000 after buying an additional 1,133,810 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.