Druckenmiller’s Prediction and His 5 Defensive Stock Picks

3. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 70  

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. Latest data shows that the hedge fund led by Druckenmiller owned more than 297,100 shares in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) at the end of the second quarter of 2022 worth close to $96 million, representing 6.97% of the portfolio.

On September 6, BMO Capital analyst Evan Seigerman maintained an Outperform rating on Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) stock and raised the price target to $396 from $369, noting it was difficult to overemphasize the opportunity in obesity drugs for the firm. 

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Washington-based investment firm Fisher Asset Management is a leading shareholder in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), with 5.9 million shares worth more than $1.9 billion. 

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Baron Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and selling medicines for patients in the therapeutic areas of diabetes, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience. Stock performance was strong due to positive study results for Eli Lilly’s drug Tirzepatide (subsequently branded Mounjaro), which delivered up to 22.5% weight loss in adults with obesity. We think Tirzepatide is in the early innings of adoption in a large obesity market where penetration of anti-obesity medications is currently low. We continue to think Eli 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 solid revenue and earnings growth over many years.”