ERn Financial LLC Acquires 27 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

ERn Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,526 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the quarter. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BluePath Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 171.9% during the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 88.0% during the 4th quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 12,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,383,000 after purchasing an additional 5,689 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,068,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 912.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 3,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 2,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock opened at $758.70 on Friday. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $612.70 and a twelve month 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $784.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $856.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $720.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.41.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 56.22%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,002.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,402,522.40. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.