Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Given New $24.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $22.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 11.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ELAN. Zacks Research cut Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research report on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays initiated coverage on Elanco Animal Health in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Elanco Animal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.67.

Elanco Animal Health Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of ELAN stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $27.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,053,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,593,686. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.62. Elanco Animal Health has a one year low of $8.02 and a one year high of $27.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 450.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last posted its 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. Elanco Animal Health had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 0.78%.The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Equities research analysts expect that Elanco Animal Health will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.30 per share, with a total value of $213,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 131,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,806,764.90. This trade represents a 8.21% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Rajeev A. Modi purchased 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.33 per share, for a total transaction of $95,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,339.06. This trade represents a 3.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 43,450 shares of company stock worth $937,883. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elanco Animal Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 434.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 126,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 102,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Elanco Animal Health in the second quarter valued at $12,502,000. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Elanco Animal Health by 793.7% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 226,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after acquiring an additional 201,226 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 364.5% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 98,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 76,920 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,444,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Elanco Animal Health

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and stronger 2026 targets — Elanco reported Q4 revenue of $1.144B (+12% yr/yr) and adjusted EPS of $0.13, beating estimates; it set FY2026 revenue guidance of $4.95–5.02B, raised its 2026 innovation revenue target to $1.15B, and guided adjusted EPS $1.00–1.06 while targeting lower net leverage. Elanco Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade — Leerink Partners raised its price target on ELAN to $30 and kept an outperform rating, signaling institutional confidence in the outlook and providing upside to the share valuation. Leerink raises price target to $30 (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Shares hit recent highs — Coverage noted ELAN reached a 52‑week high after the Q4 print and 2026 outlook, reflecting positive market reaction to growth/guidance beats. Elanco hits 52-week high after Q4 results (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO media appearance — CEO Jeff Simmons spoke one‑on‑one with Jim Cramer (visibility event) to discuss the quarter, strategy and the “Big 6” product rollouts — useful for investor messaging but not a direct financial driver. Elanco CEO Jeff Simmons on Jim Cramer (CNBC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials available — The earnings slide deck and call transcript provide granular metrics (adjusted EBITDA margin, innovation revenue breakdown, product momentum) for investors doing deeper fundamental work. Q4 2025 earnings call transcript (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure flagged — Several outlets highlighted concerns around margins and short‑term profitability (and some noted the stock initially slipped on those worries), pointing to investor focus on whether margin recovery will match top‑line gains. Elanco beats estimates but shares edge down on margin concerns (Investing.com)

About Elanco Animal Health

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.