Motco Purchases 261 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Motco raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,466 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $10,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LLY. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.5% during the third quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 2.0% during the third quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 679 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors now owns 767 shares of the company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.0% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LLY. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research assumed 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. Redburn Atlantic raised Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,000.28.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

LLY stock opened at $904.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $811.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $848.85. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $711.40 and a 52-week high of $972.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $857.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.26, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 85.24% and a net margin of 23.51%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is presently 51.24%.

About Eli Lilly and Company

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.