Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Reduces Stock Position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP trimmed its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 41.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,330 shares of the company’s stock after selling 117,685 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $98,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LLY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $5,992,890,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 61,268.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,342,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,802,530,000 after buying an additional 7,330,815 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter worth about $682,139,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $435,736,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,575,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,908,273,000 after buying an additional 659,838 shares during the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock traded down $1.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $807.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,778,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,894,329. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $767.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $765.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $692.97. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $419.80 and a fifty-two week high of $820.60.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.94 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 56.98% and a net margin of 17.08%. The company’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 13.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LLY. TheStreet raised Eli Lilly and Company from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $885.00 price objective (up from $815.00) on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $805.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $675.00 to $895.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $769.53.

Eli Lilly and Company Profile

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.