Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $24.89 and last traded at $24.8030, with a volume of 864017 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.53.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ELAN. Argus raised Elanco Animal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Elanco Animal Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Two research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elanco Animal Health

In other Elanco Animal Health news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen bought 6,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.64 per share, for a total transaction of $150,398.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,402.12. This represents a 5.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rajeev A. Modi purchased 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.33 per share, with a total value of $95,985.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 123,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,339.06. This represents a 3.79% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 43,450 shares of company stock valued at $937,883. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Elanco Animal Health Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.01 billion, a PE ratio of 402.92, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.87.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.