Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Shares Gap Up to $13.73

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $13.73, but opened at $14.26. Elanco Animal Health shares last traded at $14.16, with a volume of 335,059 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Elanco Animal Health Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a PE ratio of -5.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a negative net margin of 27.94% and a positive return on equity of 7.29%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 100,000 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.01 per share, with a total value 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 $1,886,450. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Elanco Animal Health news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Harrington purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.85 per share, for a total transaction of $51,975.00. Following the purchase, 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. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 33,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 546.6% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 208,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after buying an additional 176,656 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 331,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,941,000 after buying an additional 56,266 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the fourth quarter worth about $4,004,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 130,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 20,143 shares during the period. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.