Valmark Advisers Inc. Raises Stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,543 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $2,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. Lipe & Dalton purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth about $40,000. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 54,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.07, for a total transaction of $34,854,422.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,488,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,177,109,911.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LLY. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $650.00 to $723.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $680.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $700.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $728.05.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE:LLY traded up $8.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $733.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,009,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,265,427. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $380.77 and a fifty-two week high of $800.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $761.79 and its 200-day moving average is $666.06. The firm has a market cap of $696.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.34.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.19. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 51.22% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $9.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.