Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 16.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,634 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $2,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FFG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 17,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,106,000 after buying an additional 5,020 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,328,000. American Trust lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 2,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,306,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 20.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 49,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,909,000 after purchasing an additional 8,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,803,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LLY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,060.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $885.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $884.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at $4,402,522.40. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:LLY traded up $1.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $783.97. 657,694 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,194,719. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $835.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $870.78. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $561.65 and a 52 week high of $972.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $744.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.58, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.41.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is presently 56.22%.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.