Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $15.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $17.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 2.39% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on ELAN. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.29.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

ELAN opened at $14.65 on Thursday. Elanco Animal Health has a 1-year low of $8.52 and a 1-year high of $18.80. The company has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 27.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, Director Michael J. Harrington purchased 3,500 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.85 per share, for a total transaction of $51,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 81,094 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,245.90. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Elanco Animal Health news, Director Michael J. Harrington purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.85 per share, with a total value of $51,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 81,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,204,245.90. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons acquired 100,000 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.01 per share, with a total value of $1,301,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 145,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,886,450. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ELAN. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Elanco Animal Health by 337.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the second quarter worth $32,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter worth $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in Elanco Animal Health during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter valued at $40,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elanco Animal Health Company Profile

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, an animal health company, innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers pet health disease prevention products, such as parasiticide and vaccine products that protect pets from worms, fleas, and ticks under the Seresto, Advantage, Advantix, and Advocate brands; pet health therapeutics for pain, osteoarthritis, ear infections, cardiovascular, and dermatology indications in canines and felines under the Galliprant and Claro brands; vaccines, antibiotics, parasiticides, and other products for use in poultry and aquaculture production, as well as nutritional health products, including enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics; and a range of vaccines, antibiotics, implants, parasiticides, and other products used in ruminant and swine production under the Rumensin and Baytril brands.