Share Buyback Plan Initiated by Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Board

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 9th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $885.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,007.94.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LLY opened at $802.94 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $841.04 and a 200 day moving average of $871.97. The stock has a market cap of $762.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.41. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12 month low of $561.65 and a 12 month high of $972.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $11.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 20.48% and a return on equity of 71.08%. Eli Lilly and Company’s revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Eli Lilly and Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Eli Lilly and Company’s payout ratio is currently 56.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $803.38, for a total value of $723,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,402,522.40. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.