Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Free Report) by 67.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 899 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC's holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LLY. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,275,000 after purchasing an additional 4,303 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 17,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,662 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the company's stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Centerpoint Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter worth about $514,000. Finally, bLong Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter worth about $5,368,000. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LLY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $970.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised Eli Lilly and Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $997.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of LLY stock traded up $5.44 on Friday, reaching $878.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,544,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,720,330. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $799.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $846.07. The stock has a market cap of $834.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.42. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $711.40 and a 1 year high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 23.51% and a return on equity of 86.26%. Equities research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Eli Lilly and Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.24%.

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.