Herbst Group LLC Decreases Stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Herbst Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Free Report) by 54.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,451 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,163 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company makes up about 1.7% of Herbst Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Herbst Group LLC's holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $2,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Beck Bode LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter valued at about $15,036,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $546,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 68,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,581,000 after acquiring an additional 3,713 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.9% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,542,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 16.7% during the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the company's stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eli Lilly and Company

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $1,100.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Eli Lilly and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LLY traded down $31.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $726.24. The stock had a trading volume of 5,497,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,736,766. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $689.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.51, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $781.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $854.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.