Foster Group Inc. Acquires 39 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Foster Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,595 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at $27,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 53.3% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 117.1% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 46,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 24,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LLY shares. 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 price objective for the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $997.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $997.22.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of LLY opened at $823.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $780.80 and a 200 day moving average of $845.98. The company has a market capitalization 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 12 month low of $637.00 and a 12 month high of $972.53. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is currently 56.22%.

About Eli Lilly and Company

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.