Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $31.00 to $33.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 12,799,155 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 132% from the previous session’s volume of 5,520,875 shares.The stock last traded at $22.8550 and had previously closed at $24.20.

ELAN has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a research note on Monday, June 29th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Elanco Animal Health from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Elanco Animal Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Elanco Animal Health currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.09.

Insider Activity at Elanco Animal Health

In other news, insider Rajeev A. Modi purchased 4,911 shares of Elanco Animal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.35 per share, with a total value of $99,938.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 160,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,272,524.20. The trade was a 3.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey N. Simmons acquired 4,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.09 per share, with a total value of $99,867.39. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 171,971 shares in the company, valued at $3,454,897.39. The trade was a 2.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Elanco Animal Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Elanco Animal Health by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Elanco Animal Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Elanco Animal Health by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Elanco Animal Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of -55.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.67.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a negative net margin of 3.96% and a positive return on equity of 8.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Elanco Animal Health has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.190-0.220 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.100-1.160 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Elanco Animal Health Incorporated will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.