JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) Stock

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 30.48% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ELAN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Elanco Animal Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $31.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Elanco Animal Health from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Elanco Animal Health in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Elanco Animal Health from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.75.

Elanco Animal Health Stock Performance

NYSE ELAN traded up $1.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $26.82. 5,524,143 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,622,399. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.10, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.73. Elanco Animal Health has a 12-month low of $19.40 and a 12-month high of $27.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 2.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.13 and a 200-day moving average of $23.82.

Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Elanco Animal Health had a negative net margin of 2.86% and a positive return on equity of 8.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. Elanco Animal Health has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.160-0.190 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.170-1.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Elanco Animal Health will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Elanco Animal Health

In related news, Director Michael J. Harrington purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.82 per share, with a total value of $109,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 131,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,868,260.82. This represents a 3.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Shiv O’Neill acquired 3,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.58 per share, for a total transaction of $94,272.84. Following the transaction, the insider owned 87,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,078.56. This represents a 4.77% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 48,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,139,373. Company insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter valued at about $1,202,198,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Elanco Animal Health during the second quarter worth about $3,279,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 4.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,063,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,312,000 after purchasing an additional 726,567 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Elanco Animal Health by 55.5% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 4,611,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S&CO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Elanco Animal Health in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,738,000. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco Animal Health is a global animal health company that develops, manufactures and markets products for companion animals and livestock. Its offerings include medicines, vaccines and other products intended to prevent and treat disease and support animal health.

For pets, Elanco provides treatments for conditions including parasitic infections, pain and chronic diseases. Its livestock products support the health of animals such as cattle, poultry, swine and fish, serving producers and veterinarians.

The company traces its origins to Eli Lilly’s animal health business, established in 1954, and became an independent public company in 2018.