Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) Option Bull Gets More Ambitious

Eli Lilly and Co (LLY) is scheduled to report drug data on Monday

Jun 12, 2015 at 11:22 AM

Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) is off 2.5% at $84.44, ahead of Monday's highly anticipated (albeit limited) trial results on Alzheimer's treatment solanezumab. The pharmaceutical stock's options pits are busy, too, with intraday volume at nearly four times the norm.

One of the session's notable trades involved matching sweeps of 252 June 85 and July 87.50 calls. Data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE) confirms sell-to-open activity at the former and buy-to-open at the latter, suggesting the speculator is rolling out and up his bullish bet -- counting on LLY to take out $87.50 by the close on Friday, July 17, when back-month options expire.

Elsewhere on the Street, the brokerage bunch is split in its outlook. Six analysts currently consider LLY a "buy" or better, while another five rate it a "hold." Also, the stock's average 12-month price target of $79.71 is below current trading levels.

All things considered, Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) could benefit from upgrades and/or price-target hikes. Even after today's drop, the shares sport a year-to-date lead of more than 22%, and touched a 14-year high of $87.24 yesterday.

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