Sawyer & Company Inc Acquires 5,689 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Sawyer & Company Inc grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 88.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,154 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,689 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for approximately 3.5% of Sawyer & Company Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $9,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LLY. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 87,091.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,463,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,041,631,000 after buying an additional 12,448,888 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 92,759.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,022,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,287 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 37,140.7% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 694,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,990,000 after purchasing an additional 692,303 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 71.6% during the second quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,512,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,369,825,000 after purchasing an additional 631,312 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 100.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,165,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,032,737,000 after purchasing an additional 584,866 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total transaction of $723,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at $4,402,522.40. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:LLY opened at $758.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $784.03 and its 200 day moving average is $856.70. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12 month low of $612.70 and a 12 month high of $972.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $720.25 billion, a PE ratio of 82.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $11.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,002.22.

Eli Lilly and Company 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.