Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Shares Down 3.4% - Here's What Happened

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $13.27 and last traded at $13.48. Approximately 1,113,151 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 4,745,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Elanco Animal Health from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.43.

Elanco Animal Health Trading Down 4.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.93. The firm has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.93.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 100,000 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The trade was a 200.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Elanco Animal Health news, Director Michael J. Harrington acquired 3,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 81,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,204,245.90. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,886,450. This represents a 200.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 23.4% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 17,363 shares of the company's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 3,297 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 1.0% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 3,767,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,349,000 after purchasing an additional 37,349 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 124,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 12,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $781,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Elanco Animal Health Company Profile

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.