Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Eli Lilly and Company $LLY

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 767 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LLY. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 97.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 101,305,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,669,349,000 after buying an additional 50,002,551 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,613,912,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,224,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,432,218,000 after acquiring an additional 4,975,395 shares in the last quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 7,975.5% in the 1st quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 783,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,225,000 after purchasing an additional 773,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 106.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,481,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,154,508,000 after purchasing an additional 765,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, Director J Erik Fyrwald bought 1,565 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $642.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,005,246.45. Following the purchase, the director owned 74,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,903,686.74. The trade was a 2.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David A. Ricks purchased 1,632 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $644.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,052,264.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 546,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,431,926.77. This trade represents a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 4,514 shares of company stock worth $2,894,841 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on LLY shares. Daiwa America lowered Eli Lilly and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $948.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $700.00 to $800.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $938.61.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 0.6%

LLY stock opened at $825.86 on Friday. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12 month low of $623.78 and a 12 month high of $935.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $781.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $768.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $768.14.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.59 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $15.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 92.72% and a net margin of 25.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.92 EPS. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2025 guidance at 21.750-23.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.