Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 38.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 193,486 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,212 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $149,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,245,000 after buying an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 266,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,389,000 after buying an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter valued at $834,000. Cooper Financial Group increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,246,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

LLY opened at $857.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $813.93 billion, a PE ratio of 73.22, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.42. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $711.40 and a twelve month high of $972.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $795.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $845.36. 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 Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $5.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.45 by ($0.13). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 86.26% and a net margin of 23.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is 51.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LLY. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,029.00 to $1,038.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $997.50.

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.