Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC Trims Stock Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,771 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $834,000. Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,246,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LLY. StockNews.com raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $997.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

LLY opened at $844.82 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $794.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $844.34. The firm has a market cap of $802.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.15, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.42. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $711.40 and a twelve month high of $972.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.41%.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.