New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,144,878 shares of the company’s stock after selling 94,084 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises 1.4% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.12% of Eli Lilly and Company worth $1,014,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&G Plc bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the first quarter worth about $8,896,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the first quarter valued at $2,138,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 404.8% during the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 62,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,699,000 after acquiring an additional 50,197 shares during the period. Finally, Centric Wealth Management boosted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 4.3% during the first quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 14,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,033,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $885.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,060.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America dropped 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 note on Thursday. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,009.00.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

LLY stock opened at $818.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $561.65 and a 1 year high of $972.53. The company has a market cap of $778.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $911.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $865.33.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 73.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.22%.

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.