Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Trims Stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. reduced its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $2,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 53.3% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 117.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 46,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 24,879 shares during the period. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE:LLY opened at $726.24 on Tuesday. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12 month low of $612.70 and a 12 month high of $972.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $781.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $854.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $689.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.51, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.41.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,402,522.40. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LLY. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research began 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 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,060.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,002.22.

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.