5 Best Covid Vaccine and Pill Stocks To Invest In

4. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64   

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is among the few drug giants that do not market the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the company has instead worked on other treatments for the virus. Although the firm narrowly missed market estimates on earnings per share in the third quarter, it beat them on revenue and improved guidance for the months ahead, resulting in positive coverage from analysts. 

Berenberg analyst Kerry Holford recently upgraded Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) stock to Buy from Hold and increased the price target to $270 from $240, noting that the estimates for the long-term sales growth of the firm looked favorable compared to peers. 

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Florida-based investment firm GQG Partners is a leading shareholder in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) with 1.7 million shares worth more than $391 million.  

In its Q1 2020 investor letter, Amana Mutual Funds Trust highlighted a few stocks and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Even so, Lilly stood out as one, among a handful, of companies that registered a positive return for the first quarter. In January, Lilly reported excellent fourth quarter results, with revenue growing at a faster clip than over the first three quarters of the year. Lilly is also financially strong with debt equivalent to only two times EBITDA3 and 12% of market capitalization. Johnson & Johnson, while trailing Lilly, shares many of the same characteristics and also outperformed.”