Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.7778.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ELAN. 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 note on Wednesday, November 19th. Barclays started coverage on Elanco Animal Health in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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.

Elanco Animal Health Price Performance

Elanco Animal Health stock opened at $22.38 on Friday. Elanco Animal Health has a 52 week low of $8.02 and a 52 week high of $23.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.58. The stock has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 373.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities analysts predict that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen acquired 6,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.64 per share, with a total value of $150,398.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,402.12. This represents a 5.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $478,500.00. Following the purchase, 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. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 43,450 shares of company stock worth $937,883 over the last ninety days. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELAN. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 2,563.5% in 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 holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 3,018.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

Elanco Animal Health Company Profile

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.