Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Free Report) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,757 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $9,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 87,091.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,463,182 shares of the company's stock worth $11,041,631,000 after purchasing an additional 12,448,888 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 92,759.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,022,388 shares of the company's stock worth $905,774,000 after buying an additional 1,021,287 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 37,140.7% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 694,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $614,990,000 after buying an additional 692,303 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 71.6% in the second quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,512,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,369,825,000 after acquiring an additional 631,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 100.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,165,696 shares of the company's stock worth $1,032,737,000 after acquiring an additional 584,866 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total value of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $1,100.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,060.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Eli Lilly and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

LLY traded down $31.36 on Monday, hitting $726.24. 5,497,108 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,736,766. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $781.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $854.04. The stock has a market cap of $689.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $612.70 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.22%.

Eli Lilly and Company Profile

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.