Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $1,166.29 and last traded at $1,160.4160, with a volume of 1758674 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,125.27.

Eli Lilly and Company News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Eli Lilly and Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CVS Caremark reversed its earlier Zepbound exclusion and will now cover Eli Lilly’s obesity drug through its pharmacy benefits, a meaningful commercial win that broadens access and could support prescription growth. CVS Health Just Announced Fantastic News to Eli Lilly Stock Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Eli Lilly announced a new Phase 2b trial combining macupatide and eloralintide, reinforcing the company’s push to deepen its obesity pipeline and reduce dependence on a single product cycle. Lilly Expands Obesity Pipeline With New Phase 2b Macupatide–Eloralintide Trial
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer’s comments highlighted Lilly as a potential winner in healthcare, citing its competitive strength and ability to outmaneuver rivals in weight-loss drugs. Jim Cramer Sees Eli Lilly (LLY) Delivering ‘Knockout Punch’ to Competitors
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage and commentary continue to frame LLY as a long-term growth stock, with articles pointing to strong recent results, obesity demand, and additional growth drivers beyond GLP-1s. LLY Rises 14% in a Month: Should You Hold as Obesity Growth Continues?
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional stories discussed Lilly’s expansion into gene editing, vaccines, oncology and kidney disease, which supports the longer-term growth narrative but does not appear to be a near-term catalyst by itself. Eli Lilly continues genetic medicine push with $1.9bn Ascidian partnership

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $1,070.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $880.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,227.00.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $970.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,012.19.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $8.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $1.58. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 34.98% and a return on equity of 105.77%. The company had revenue of $19.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.34 EPS. Eli Lilly and Company’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Eli Lilly and Company has set its FY 2026 guidance at 35.500-37.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 35.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eli Lilly and Company

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LLY. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 84.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 35 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Basso Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, 10Elms LLP boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. 10Elms LLP now owns 40 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.53% of the company’s stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company founded in 1876 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes a broad range of medicines and therapies for patients worldwide. Eli Lilly maintains operations and commercial presence across North America, Europe, Asia and other regions, serving both developed and emerging markets. The company has been led in recent years by President and Chief Executive Officer David A.