Leerink Partners Boosts Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Price Target to $30.00

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Leerink Partners from $26.00 to $30.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price target suggests a potential upside of 11.86% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ELAN. Piper Sandler upgraded Elanco Animal Health from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Elanco Animal Health in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Elanco Animal Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE ELAN opened at $26.82 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.87. Elanco Animal Health has a 1 year low of $8.02 and a 1 year high of $27.72.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 7.14% and a negative net margin of 4.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Elanco Animal Health has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.330-0.36 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.060 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Elanco Animal Health

In other Elanco Animal Health news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen bought 6,950 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were 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 owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,402.12. The trade was a 5.93% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $478,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 167,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,250. This trade represents a 15.17% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 43,450 shares of company stock worth $937,883. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 2,563.5% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake 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 valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Elanco Animal Health by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Elanco Animal Health

Here are the key news stories impacting Elanco Animal Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and upgraded FY‑2026 targets — Elanco reported Q4 revenue of $1.14B and adjusted EPS of $0.13 (above estimates), raised its FY‑2026 innovation revenue target to $1.15B and gave full‑year guidance for ~4%–6% organic growth and higher adjusted EBITDA/adjusted EPS targets. PR Newswire
• Positive Sentiment: Product launches driving innovation revenue — Management says all “Big 6” products are in market with Befrena approved in Q4, supporting the raised innovation revenue target and longer‑term growth thesis. MSN article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — KeyCorp and Leerink raised price targets (to $29 and $30 respectively) and maintained positive ratings, signaling dealer confidence in beat‑and‑raise execution. StreetInsider
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell sharply — Short interest dropped ~20.7% in February to ~18.4M shares (≈3.7% of float), lowering potential short‑squeeze risk and reducing downward pressure. (Days‑to‑cover ≈4.0 days).
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO visibility — Jeff Simmons appeared on CNBC with Jim Cramer, raising public visibility for the turnaround narrative; useful for sentiment but not a direct earnings lever. CNBC interview
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials available — Call transcript and slides were published for investors to dig into segment trends and product cadence. Seeking Alpha transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure flagged — Some coverage notes margins and cost trends prompted investor concern and caused shares to slip intra‑day despite the beat. That creates risk if GM/EBITDA margins remain under pressure. Investing.com
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst view / limited near‑term upside — Morgan Stanley raised its target to $24 but kept an “equal weight” stance, implying limited upside (their PT sits below current levels), highlighting divergent analyst views on valuation. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 guidance slightly cautious — Q1 EPS guidance of $0.33–$0.36 is roughly in line but slightly below some consensus points, so near‑term beat risk is lower than for FY. (Company guidance details in the PR release above.)

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.