Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.51, but opened at $10.83. Elanco Animal Health shares last traded at $11.05, with a volume of 2,055,507 shares traded.

The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.06. Elanco Animal Health had a net margin of 4.60% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. Elanco Animal Health’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ELAN. Barclays decreased their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Elanco Animal Health presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.90 per share, with a total value of $109,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 101,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,105,903.10. The trade was a 10.93 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 791.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,090 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Elanco Animal Health during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 92.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the period. 97.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Up 2.3 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.49.

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.