Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Shares Purchased by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 189,746 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,850 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $146,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,248,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,320,226,000 after buying an additional 475,530 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,382,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,389,651,000 after buying an additional 291,875 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,625,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,747,214,000 after buying an additional 2,012,129 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $8,407,908,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,236,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,042,276,000 after acquiring an additional 178,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LLY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Berenberg Bank set a $970.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Leerink Partners set a $950.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $970.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,009.72.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:LLY opened at $737.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $699.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $848.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $831.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $692.96 and a 1-year high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total value of $818,240.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at $4,778,521.60. This represents a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.