Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on ELAN. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded Elanco Animal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elanco Animal Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.78.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Down 0.5%

ELAN stock opened at $22.53 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.18 and a 200 day moving average of $18.94. The firm has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a PE ratio of 375.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.87. Elanco Animal Health has a twelve month low of $8.02 and a twelve month high of $23.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 0.78%.The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Elanco Animal Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.910-0.940 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.090-0.120 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elanco Animal Health news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $478,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 167,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,250. This trade represents a 15.17% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen acquired 6,950 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.64 per share, for a total transaction of $150,398.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 124,233 shares in the company, valued at $2,688,402.12. This trade represents a 5.93% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 43,450 shares of company stock worth $937,883 in the last three months. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 2,563.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 136.7% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 79.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 184.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,414 shares in the last quarter. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Inc is a global leader in animal health dedicated to improving food and companion animal well-being. The company develops, manufactures and markets a range of products, including parasiticides, vaccines, antibiotics and feed additives designed to prevent and treat disease in livestock and pets. Elanco’s portfolio spans both food-producing animals—such as cattle, swine, poultry and aquaculture—and companion animals, with offerings that support parasite control, pain management and infectious disease prevention.

Originally founded as the animal health division of Eli Lilly and Company in the mid-20th century, Elanco was spun off into an independent publicly traded company in 2018.