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

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN)’s share price 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 trading hands.

Specifically, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.30 per share, for a total transaction of $213,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 131,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,764.90. This trade represents a 8.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $478,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 167,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,250. The trade was a 15.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen purchased 6,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.64 per share, for a total transaction of $150,398.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,688,402.12. This represents a 5.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ELAN shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.78.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 367.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.25.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for 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%.The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. 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. Analysts predict 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 hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 434.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 126,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 102,686 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the 2nd quarter worth $12,502,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 46.4% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 49,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 15,754 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 65.5% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 248,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,543,000 after purchasing an additional 98,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 239.0% in the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 166,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 117,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

About Elanco Animal Health

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.