Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $23.74 and last traded at $23.4350, with a volume of 763721 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ELAN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Elanco Animal Health from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. 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 objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Elanco Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Elanco Animal Health currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.78.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 387.40, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.21.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert M. Vanhimbergen acquired 6,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.64 per share, with a total value of $150,398.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 124,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,402.12. This trade represents a 5.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius acquired 10,000 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.30 per share, with a total value of $213,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 131,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,764.90. This represents a 8.21% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought 43,450 shares of company stock worth $937,883 in the last 90 days. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Elanco Animal Health by 2,563.5% during 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 raised its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 136.7% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 79.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 184.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 2,414 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.