Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) Short Interest Update

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,300,000 shares, a growth of 10.1% from the August 15th total of 12,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ELAN. Barclays cut their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elanco Animal Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.57.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

Shares of ELAN traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.65. 4,287,707 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,736,817. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Elanco Animal Health has a 52 week low of $8.52 and a 52 week high of $18.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.17. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 27.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Elanco Animal Health news, Director Michael J. Harrington acquired 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.85 per share, for a total transaction of $51,975.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 81,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,245.90. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.01 per share, with a total value of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,886,450. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Harrington purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.85 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 81,094 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,245.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the 1st quarter worth $1,226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,468,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,083,000 after purchasing an additional 467,196 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,004,000. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,683,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Elanco Animal Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,956,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, an animal health company, innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers pet health disease prevention products, such as parasiticide and vaccine products that protect pets from worms, fleas, and ticks under the Seresto, Advantage, Advantix, and Advocate brands; pet health therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, ear infections, cardiovascular, and dermatology indications in canines and felines under the Galliprant and Claro brands; vaccines, antibiotics, parasiticides, and other products for use in poultry and aquaculture production, as well as nutritional health products, including enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics; and a range of vaccines, antibiotics, implants, parasiticides, and other products used in ruminant and swine production under the Rumensin and Baytril brands.