ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 21 Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $5,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clark Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 35.1% in the first quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 335,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,066,000 after buying an additional 33,055 shares in the last quarter. 82.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $936.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Eli Lilly and Company from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $892.00 to $888.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $1,100.00 to $1,050.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a “buy” rating to a “reduce” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $1,150.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,011.61.

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Shares of LLY stock opened at $779.60 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $775.72 and its 200 day moving average is $799.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market cap of $738.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.43, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.40. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $677.09 and a twelve month high of $972.53.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) last announced its 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). Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.67% and a return on equity of 85.51%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Eli Lilly and Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.