Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Shares of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $21.70, but opened at $22.50. Elanco Animal Health shares last traded at $22.3050, with a volume of 1,296,052 shares.

Specifically, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons acquired 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $478,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 167,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,250. This trade represents a 15.17% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen bought 6,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.64 per share, with a total value of $150,398.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,688,402.12. This trade represents a 5.93% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In other news, insider Rajeev A. Modi purchased 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.33 per share, for a total transaction of $95,985.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 123,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,339.06. The trade was a 3.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Elanco Animal Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Argus raised Elanco Animal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elanco Animal Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.78.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 372.98, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 0.78%.Elanco Animal Health’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. Elanco Animal Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.910-0.940 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.090-0.120 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ELAN. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 56.7% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 16,468,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,669,000 after buying an additional 5,961,457 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 20,464,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,563,740 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 322.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,234,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,468,122 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,787,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the third quarter worth approximately $47,626,000. 97.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.