The drugmaker Ely Lilly (LLY -4.93%) has had a very successful run over the long run. Shares currently trade around $818 and are up 20,030% over the past 40 years. The stock has also performed well this year, rising roughly 36% (as of Nov. 14), ahead of the broader market.
Given that Eli Lilly has been public for roughly seven decades, it’s no surprise that it has conducted a few stock splits. When a company does a split, the amount of a shareholder’s equity doesn’t change but the number of shares does. Companies typically perform stock splits to make their shares more appealing to the general public.
If you bought one share of Eli Lilly 40 years ago in 1984, here’s how many shares you would have today.
A long history
In the past 40 years, Eli Lilly has done four stock splits. The stock splits occurred on the following dates:
- Jan. 29, 1986 (2 for 1)
- April 28, 1989 (2 for 1)
- Dec. 20, 1995 (2 for 1)
- Oct. 15, 1997 (2 for 1)
In a two-for-one split, investors receive two shares for every one share they own. So, after the first stock split in 1986, any investors with one share would have two shares. Then they would have four shares after the second stock split, eight shares after the third, and 16 shares after the most recent split in 1997.
Lilly currently trades at over 61 times forward earnings, certainly not cheap but also not as high as the stock traded earlier this year. It is always going to be a crucial company for the U.S. economy and population, so long-term investors can continue to hold the stock. But like a lot of other stocks in today’s highly valued market, it could be susceptible to pullbacks.
Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.