Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on LLY. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,100.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,010.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $948.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $940.00.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Shares of LLY stock opened at $862.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $816.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $623.78 and a 1-year high of $935.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $780.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $771.71.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $7.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.42 by $0.60. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 25.91% and a return on equity of 92.72%. The business had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2025 guidance at 23.000-23.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is presently 39.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jamere Jackson bought 200 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $639.56 per share, with a total value of $127,912.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,013,143.12. This trade represents a 2.17% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gabrielle Sulzberger bought 117 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $641.18 per share, with a total value of $75,018.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,733,109.54. This trade represents a 4.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 4,514 shares of company stock worth $2,894,841 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eli Lilly and Company

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 97.5% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 101,305,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,669,349,000 after acquiring an additional 50,002,551 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,407,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,680,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,038 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,707,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,495,261,000 after acquiring an additional 81,587 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 78,621.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,552,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,005,392,000 after acquiring an additional 11,537,661 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,827,714,000. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Eli Lilly and Company

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.