5 Best Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy in 2022

4. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 61

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is a pharmaceutical company that is known for manufacturing polio vaccines and insulin. The company markets its products in 125 countries. 

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) posted its Q4 results on February 3, reporting EPS of $2.49, missing estimates by $0.02. The company’s revenue over the period came in at $8 billion, up 7.53% from the prior-year quarter, surpassing estimates by $113.13 million. 

On February 14, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was awarded a $1.08 billion fixed price contract for the manufacture, distribution, and storage of Bebtelovimab in support of the national emergency response to COVID-19. 

On February 4, Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison lowered the firm’s price target on Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) to $265 from $272 and kept an ‘Overweight’ rating on the shares. He adjusted his model following the company’s Q4 report, along with which management gave guidance that they plan to delay donanemab’s accelerated approval filing until later this year. 

According to the Q4 database of Insider Monkey, 61 hedge funds were bullish on Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), with collective stakes amounting to $5.31 billion, compared to 62 funds a quarter earlier, holding stakes in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) worth approximately $4.29 billion. 

Here is what Baron Funds had to say about Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in its Q2 2021 investor letter:

“We started a position in Eli Lilly and Company, a large-cap pharmaceutical company. We think Lilly has a healthy base business with limited near-term patent expirations, a strong pipeline, and potential for significant margin expansion, which should translate to high single-digit revenue growth and mid-teens earnings growth over the next five years. Lilly’s pipeline includes donanemab, a potential blockbuster drug which the company is developing for Alzheimer’s disease and which recently received Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA.”