Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Trading Down 0.4% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) traded down 0.4% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $853.85 and last traded at $862.68. 1,070,500 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 2,948,481 shares. The stock had previously closed at $865.82.

Specifically, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 2,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.00, for a total value of $1,660,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 98,554,195 shares in the company, valued at $79,730,343,755. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Eli Lilly and Company news, EVP Johna Norton sold 7,056 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.38, for a total value of $5,781,545.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,428 shares in the company, valued at $20,835,194.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 2,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $809.00, for a total value of $1,660,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 98,554,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,730,343,755. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 552,804 shares of company stock worth $462,119,714 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $885.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday. Argus lifted their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $770.00 to $840.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. TheStreet upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $805.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $800.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $787.53.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $784.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $715.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $838.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.93, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.36.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.05. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 56.98%. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LLY. Lipe & Dalton acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 49 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.