Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) Short Interest Down 9.1% in September

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,090,000 shares, a drop of 9.1% from the August 31st total of 13,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ELAN. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Elanco Animal Health from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. 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 report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.43.

Elanco Animal Health Price Performance

Shares of ELAN stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,453,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,858,449. Elanco Animal Health has a 1-year low of $8.52 and a 1-year high of $18.80. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.48, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.05.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a negative net margin of 27.94% and a positive return on equity of 7.29%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.01 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.01 per share, with a total value of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael J. Harrington acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.85 per share, for a total transaction of $51,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 81,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,245.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $781,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 252,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after buying an additional 14,653 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 47.7% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 62,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 20,341 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 1.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,945,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,445,000 after buying an additional 36,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the second quarter valued at $40,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Elanco Animal Health

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.