Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $1,166.29 and last traded at $1,160.4160, with a volume of 1758674 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,125.27.

More Eli Lilly and Company News

Here are the key news stories impacting Eli Lilly and Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CVS Caremark reversed its earlier Zepbound exclusion and will now cover Eli Lilly’s obesity drug through its pharmacy benefits, a meaningful commercial win that broadens access and could support prescription growth. CVS Health Just Announced Fantastic News to Eli Lilly Stock Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Eli Lilly announced a new Phase 2b trial combining macupatide and eloralintide, reinforcing the company’s push to deepen its obesity pipeline and reduce dependence on a single product cycle. Lilly Expands Obesity Pipeline With New Phase 2b Macupatide–Eloralintide Trial
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer’s comments highlighted Lilly as a potential winner in healthcare, citing its competitive strength and ability to outmaneuver rivals in weight-loss drugs. Jim Cramer Sees Eli Lilly (LLY) Delivering ‘Knockout Punch’ to Competitors
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage and commentary continue to frame LLY as a long-term growth stock, with articles pointing to strong recent results, obesity demand, and additional growth drivers beyond GLP-1s. LLY Rises 14% in a Month: Should You Hold as Obesity Growth Continues?
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional stories discussed Lilly’s expansion into gene editing, vaccines, oncology and kidney disease, which supports the longer-term growth narrative but does not appear to be a near-term catalyst by itself. Eli Lilly continues genetic medicine push with $1.9bn Ascidian partnership

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LLY shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,200.00 to $1,280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,300.00 to $1,330.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,227.00.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.73, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $970.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,012.19.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.97 by $1.58. The company had revenue of $19.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.82 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 34.98% and a return on equity of 105.77%. The business’s revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.34 EPS. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 35.500-37.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 35.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio is 24.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $12,976,634,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 25,088,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,141,787,000 after acquiring an additional 4,332,008 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 46,191.3% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 4,047,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,047,245,000 after acquiring an additional 4,038,502 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 876.1% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 2,375,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,552,419,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 321.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,963,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,959,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497,423 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

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.