Crown Oak Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Crown Oak Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000. Eli Lilly and Company makes up about 0.2% of Crown Oak Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 period. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

LLY opened at $784.78 on Friday. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $624.68 and a 1 year high of $972.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $776.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $849.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $745.01 billion, a PE ratio of 84.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

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

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total value of $723,042.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on LLY shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,025.00 to $975.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America restated 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. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.