Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Purchases 2,991 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company $LLY

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. boosted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,286 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company comprises about 1.2% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $61,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 78,621.2% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,552,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,005,392,000 after purchasing an additional 11,537,661 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter worth approximately $8,827,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,407,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,680,004,000 after buying an additional 1,183,038 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 106.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 765,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,766,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,715,913,000 after acquiring an additional 564,736 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,100.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,171.00 to $1,290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $1,155.36.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

LLY opened at $1,079.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 52.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,013.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $850.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $623.78 and a 52-week high of $1,111.99.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $7.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.42 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $17.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 30.99% and a return on equity of 109.52%. Eli Lilly and Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2025 guidance at 23.000-23.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company founded in 1876 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and therapies for patients worldwide. Eli Lilly maintains operations and commercial presence across North America, Europe, Asia and other regions, serving both developed and emerging markets. The company has been led in recent years by President and Chief Executive Officer David A.