Traders Buy Large Volume of Eli Lilly and Company Call Options (NYSE:LLY)

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 57,514 call options on the company. This is an increase of 26% compared to the average daily volume of 45,678 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LLY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,100.00 to $1,050.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC lowered Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $1,150.00 to $700.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $1,250.00 to $1,190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,011.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 1,000 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.24, for a total transaction of $818,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,778,521.60. The trade was a 14.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eli Lilly and Company

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LLY. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 50,002,551 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 103,831.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,866,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,278,292,000 after acquiring an additional 14,852,076 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the fourth quarter worth about $8,407,908,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the first quarter worth about $4,613,912,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 100,387.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,202,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,016,110,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock opened at $732.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $694.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $799.17 and its 200-day moving average is $807.15. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $677.09 and a one year high of $972.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by ($1.30). The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 23.51% and a return on equity of 85.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is presently 48.82%.

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.