Wealth Management Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Wealth Management Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,347 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Wealth Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 255,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,242,000 after purchasing an additional 15,260 shares in the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter valued at $1,021,000. Willner & Heller LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 841 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 5,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LLY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,060.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Eli Lilly and Company stock opened at $741.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market cap of $704.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $614.82 and a 1-year high of $972.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $779.00 and a 200-day moving average of $852.83.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released 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). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is presently 56.22%.

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.