Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Buys Shares of 288 Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 90,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,676,000 after purchasing an additional 17,259 shares during the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 2,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 7,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,707,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 3,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LLY. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $997.50.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of LLY stock opened at $843.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $785.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $843.28. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $691.10 and a 52 week high of $972.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $801.05 billion, a PE ratio of 91.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.42.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is 64.86%.

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.