Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $770.00 to $840.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a $1,106.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $994.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $885.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $961.76.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LLY opened at $902.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $857.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $895.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $827.99. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $516.57 and a 1 year high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $1.28. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.83 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 67.52% and a net margin of 18.86%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 16.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 76.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 75,510 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $860.78, for a total transaction of $64,997,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 97,793,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,178,955,771.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 737,410 shares of company stock worth $669,719,100 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eli Lilly and Company

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter worth about $205,136,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $229,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $565,000. RiverFront Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 206.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 39,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 26,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

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.