Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on LLY. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $565.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $385.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $490.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $615.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.96.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of LLY stock opened at $567.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $570.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $494.53. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $309.20 and a twelve month high of $629.97. The company has a market capitalization of $539.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.97, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.13. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 22.01%. The company had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 215,000 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.44, for a total value of $130,169,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,768,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,404,028,326.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Eli Lilly and Company news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.51, for a total transaction of $327,906.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,939,130.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 215,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.44, for a total value of $130,169,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,768,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,404,028,326.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 907,655 shares of company stock valued at $21,078,714,805. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LLY. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $228,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,329,000. Q3 Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,933,000. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 19.9% in the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Management of KS Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 160.3% in the third quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 12,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after buying an additional 7,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It 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; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.