Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $15.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $17.00.

ELAN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $17.29.

Elanco Animal Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELAN opened at $14.07 on Thursday. Elanco Animal Health has a fifty-two week low of $8.52 and a fifty-two week high of $18.80. The company has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of -5.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.15.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for 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%. Elanco Animal Health’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael J. Harrington purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.85 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 81,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,245.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Elanco Animal Health news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,301,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Harrington purchased 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.85 per share, with a total value 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. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $781,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 6.2% during the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 252,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 14,653 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 47.7% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 62,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 20,341 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 1.3% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,945,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,445,000 after purchasing an additional 36,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 97.48% of the stock is 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.