Investors Purchase Large Volume of Elanco Animal Health Call Options (NYSE:ELAN)

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 13,430 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 515% compared to the average daily volume of 2,185 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELAN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Elanco Animal Health from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elanco Animal Health currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.29.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

NYSE:ELAN traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.07. 17,388,729 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,806,717. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $13.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.17. The firm has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40. Elanco Animal Health has a one year low of $8.52 and a one year high of $18.80.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 27.94%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Elanco Animal Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,510,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter valued at $55,599,000. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 61.2% in the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 8,336,657 shares of the company's stock worth $120,298,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164,350 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 50,600,324 shares of the company's stock valued at $753,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolf Hill Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the fourth quarter valued at about $20,683,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.