Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 4,690 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,358 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $20,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,248,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,320,226,000 after acquiring an additional 475,530 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,090,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,089,563,000 after purchasing an additional 85,823 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter worth $8,407,908,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,236,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,042,276,000 after purchasing an additional 178,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 100,387.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,202,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,016,110,000 after buying an additional 5,197,038 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on LLY. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $970.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $1,146.00 price objective on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $970.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,009.72.

Insider Activity

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total transaction of $818,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at $4,778,521.60. This trade represents a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LLY opened at $820.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $777.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $844.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $836.82. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $711.40 and a one year high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 85.24% and a net margin of 23.51%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually 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.