Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Shares Gap Up After Insider Buying Activity

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $13.09, but opened at $13.65. Elanco Animal Health shares last traded at $14.08, with a volume of 1,121,202 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Doyle acquired 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.98 per share, with a total value of $254,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 76,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,083.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ELAN shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Barclays cut their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Elanco Animal Health presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.57.

Elanco Animal Health Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of -5.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 3.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.92 and its 200 day moving average is $15.37.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 29.83%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 337.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Elanco Animal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the first quarter valued at about $72,000. 97.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elanco Animal Health Company Profile

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, an animal health company, innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers pet health disease prevention products, such as parasiticide and vaccine products that protect pets from worms, fleas, and ticks under the Seresto, Advantage, Advantix, and Advocate brands; pet health therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, ear infections, cardiovascular, and dermatology indications in canines and felines under the Galliprant and Claro brands; vaccines, antibiotics, parasiticides, and other products for use in poultry and aquaculture production, as well as nutritional health products, including enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics; and a range of vaccines, antibiotics, implants, parasiticides, and other products used in ruminant and swine production under the Rumensin and Baytril brands.