Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Reduces Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC trimmed its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises about 2.4% of Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $32,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 87,091.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,463,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,041,631,000 after purchasing an additional 12,448,888 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 92,759.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,022,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,287 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 37,140.7% in the 3rd 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 100.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,165,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,032,737,000 after buying an additional 584,866 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 599.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 430,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,710,000 after buying an additional 369,293 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LLY. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $997.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:LLY opened at $823.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $781.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.04, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $637.00 and a 1 year high of $972.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $780.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $845.98.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Eli Lilly and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. 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%.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total value of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.