Smith Moore & CO. Sells 784 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Smith Moore & CO. lowered its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,503 shares of the company’s stock after selling 784 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $5,792,000 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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,248,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,320,226,000 after buying an additional 475,530 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,382,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,389,651,000 after acquiring an additional 291,875 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,625,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,747,214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012,129 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,407,908,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,042,276,000 after purchasing an additional 178,007 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Shares of LLY stock opened at $788.62 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $849.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $833.74. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $711.40 and a one year high of $972.53. The firm has a market cap of $747.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.34.

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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LLY. Leerink Partners set a $950.00 target price on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America reissued 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. Morgan Stanley set a $1,146.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped 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, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,009.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,778,521.60. This represents a 14.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.