Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $25.39 and last traded at $24.87, with a volume of 3439993 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ELAN. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research lowered Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays initiated coverage on Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. 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 research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Elanco Animal Health has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.44.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.55. The stock has a market cap of $12.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 410.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.87.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 0.78%.The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Elanco Animal Health

In related news, insider Rajeev A. Modi bought 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.33 per share, with a total value of $95,985.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 123,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,625,339.06. This represents a 3.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $478,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 167,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,250. The trade was a 15.17% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have bought 43,450 shares of company stock worth $937,883. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 2,563.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 136.7% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 80.3% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 79.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health Inc is a global leader in animal health dedicated to improving food and companion animal well-being. The company develops, manufactures and markets a range of products, including parasiticides, vaccines, antibiotics and feed additives designed to prevent and treat disease in livestock and pets. Elanco’s portfolio spans both food-producing animals—such as cattle, swine, poultry and aquaculture—and companion animals, with offerings that support parasite control, pain management and infectious disease prevention.

Originally founded as the animal health division of Eli Lilly and Company in the mid-20th century, Elanco was spun off into an independent publicly traded company in 2018.