Court Place Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Court Place Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,274 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth $30,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 53.3% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 117.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 46,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 24,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of LLY stock opened at $803.01 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $779.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $846.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $762.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $637.00 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. 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 presently 56.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,402,522.40. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LLY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed 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 target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $997.22.

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.