National Pension Service Acquires 27,550 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,299,416 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,550 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company makes up 1.1% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. National Pension Service owned about 0.14% of Eli Lilly and Company worth $757,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LLY. Lipe & Dalton bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 70.5% in the 4th quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 75 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

LLY stock traded down $2.70 on Thursday, hitting $772.30. The company had a trading volume of 989,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,053,336. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $761.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $674.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12-month low of $419.80 and a 12-month high of $800.78. The stock has a market cap of $734.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.37.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.94 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 56.98%. Eli Lilly and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LLY. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $680.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $885.00 price objective (up from $815.00) on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $757.95.

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.