Essex LLC Raises Holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Essex LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,980 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 53,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,285,000 after buying an additional 2,226 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 546 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 16,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,927,000 after buying an additional 3,445 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LLY shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced 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 research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $997.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of LLY opened at $868.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $789.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $843.19. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $711.40 and a 1-year high of $972.53. The stock has a market cap of $824.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.42.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 86.26% and a net margin of 23.51%. Equities analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a boost 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 44.41%.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.