World Equity Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Eli Lilly and Company $LLY

World Equity Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,973 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 78,621.2% during the 2nd 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the second quarter worth approximately $8,827,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,407,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,680,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,038 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,766,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,715,913,000 after purchasing an additional 564,736 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LLY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $950.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets set a $1,230.00 price objective on Eli Lilly and Company and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets set a $1,200.00 target price on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,038.00 to $1,182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,171.00 to $1,290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,169.00.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

NYSE LLY opened at $1,063.90 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,037.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $861.67. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $623.78 and a 52 week high of $1,133.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $7.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.42 by $0.60. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 109.52% and a net margin of 30.99%.The company had revenue of $17.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2025 guidance at 23.000-23.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.35%.

About Eli Lilly and Company

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.