First Trust Advisors LP Buys 1,543,202 Shares of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN – Get Rating) by 2,243.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,611,978 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,543,202 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Elanco Animal Health were worth $19,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 57.0% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 257.2% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 1,285.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

ELAN opened at $8.51 on Monday. Elanco Animal Health Incorporated has a one year low of $8.48 and a one year high of $24.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.16. Elanco Animal Health had a positive return on equity of 8.21% and a negative net margin of 0.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons bought 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.60 per share, with a total value of $144,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $432,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons purchased 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.60 per share, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director R David Hoover purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.13 per share, for a total transaction of $111,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 155,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,725,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ELAN shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Barclays raised Elanco Animal Health from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $15.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.50.

About Elanco Animal Health

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Elanco Animal Health, Inc innovates, develops, manufactures, and markets products for pets and farm animals. It offers products through the following four categories: Companion Animal Disease Prevention, Companion Animal Therapeutics, Food Animal Future Protein & Health, and Food Animal Ruminants & Swine.