Fortem Financial Group LLC Sells 32 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Fortem Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,006 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 68,180.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 415,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 414,539 shares during the period. Chris Bulman Inc bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $246,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 8,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,870,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LLY shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,000.00 to $1,033.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $997.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,002.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eli Lilly and Company 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 transaction of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,480 shares in the company, valued at $4,402,522.40. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE LLY traded down $16.35 during trading on Monday, reaching $765.63. 2,533,579 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,031,475. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $793.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $863.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $726.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.77, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $609.59 and a fifty-two week high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.34). Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 71.08% and a net margin of 20.48%. The business had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.86%.

Eli Lilly and Company announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Eli Lilly and Company

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.