Sunbelt Securities Inc. Buys 477 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,453 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $4,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,397,000 after buying an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. GG Group Ventures LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 24.5% in the third quarter. GG Group Ventures LLC now owns 427 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,090,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,089,563,000 after purchasing an additional 85,823 shares during the period. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of Eli Lilly and Company 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,402,522.40. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LLY. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $884.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $885.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

LLY stock opened at $800.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $841.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $871.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $561.65 and a one year high of $972.53. The firm has a market cap of $760.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.58, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change 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 0.75%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.22%.

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.