Fulton Bank N.A. Grows Holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,758 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $11,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth $27,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 117.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 46,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 24,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total value of $723,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,402,522.40. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LLY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of LLY traded up $8.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $782.16. 1,609,189 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,560,894. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $788.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $861.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $742.52 billion, a PE ratio of 84.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $612.70 and a 52-week high of $972.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.86%.

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.