D.B. Root & Company LLC Reduces Stock Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

D.B. Root & Company LLC cut its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 266,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,246,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs & Co. CA grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 29,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,690,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,402,522.40. This 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 the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on LLY shares. Citigroup lifted 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 2.4 %

LLY opened at $784.78 on Friday. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $624.68 and a one year high of $972.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $775.91 and its 200-day moving average is $850.34. The company has a market capitalization of $745.01 billion, a PE ratio of 84.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is 64.86%.

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.