WealthTrust Axiom LLC Trims Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC reduced its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,815 shares of the company’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company comprises approximately 2.3% of WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $6,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lipe & Dalton bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 78,573 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.07, for a total value of $50,920,804.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,333,810 shares in the company, valued at $64,375,262,246.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $885.00 target price (up from $815.00) on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $675.00 to $895.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $800.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $700.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $775.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $731.55.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

LLY traded up $40.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $777.93. 5,818,142 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,049,760. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $760.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $668.00. The company has a market capitalization of $739.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.43, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $392.26 and a 52-week high of $800.78.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.95 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 51.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Profile

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.