We recently published a list of Top 10 Stocks to Buy According to Sustainable Insight Capital Management. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) stands against other top stocks to buy according to sustainable insight capital management.

Sustainable Insight Capital Management (SICM) focuses on institutional investments, offering both long-only and long-short strategies in public equities. Established by an experienced leadership team with deep institutional knowledge, the hedge fund is committed to providing investment solutions that emphasize sustainability. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, SICM reported managing nearly $228.52 million in 13F securities, with its top 10 holdings making up 56.36% of its portfolio.

Kevin Edward Parker is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC, which he established in 2013. He also founded Sustainable Insight Capital Management (UK) Ltd. that same year and serves as its CEO as well. Parker earned his undergraduate degree from New York University in 1981. With over 30 years of experience on Wall Street, he has built a distinguished career in investment management and financial leadership. Before launching SICM, Kevin Parker played a key role at Deutsche Bank, where he was a member of the Group Executive Committee from 2001 to 2004 and led its asset management division as Global Head from 2004 to 2012. His extensive expertise in sustainable investing and institutional asset management has positioned SICM as a leader in responsible investment strategies.

Beyond his work at SICM, Parker holds several leadership positions in various organizations. Since 2004, he has also served as Vice Chairman of the New York Police & Fire Widow’s & Children’s Benefit Fund. Additionally, he has been an Independent Director at The Westaim Corporation since 2020, an Independent Non-Executive Director at United Co. RUSAL International PJSC since 2019, and a Director at both Next Jump, Inc. and Westaim Arena Holdings II LLC since 2016. His previous roles include Chairman of the Management Board at DWS International GmbH from 2011 to 2012 and a Director at the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board from 2014 to 2018. He has also held leadership positions at Agri. Capital Group SA, DB Climate Change Advisors, and Green Partners Technology Holdings GmbH.

Our Methodology

The stocks discussed below were picked from Sustainable Insight Capital Management’s Q4 2024 13F filings. They are compiled in the ascending order of Sustainable Insight Capital Management’s stake in them as of the fourth quarter of 2024. In order to assist readers with more context, we have included the hedge fund sentiment regarding each stock using data from 1008 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 363.5% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 208 percentage points (see more details here).

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q4: 115

SICM’s Equity Stake: $6.54 Million 

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has been at the forefront of scientific innovation for nearly 150 years, utilizing biotechnology, chemistry, and genetic medicine to address some of the world’s most pressing health challenges. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) operates in 18 countries, with its products available in approximately 125 countries. In addition to its groundbreaking pharmaceutical developments, it also prioritizes inclusive clinical trials and strives to make its medicines accessible and affordable to diverse populations.

Over the years, Lilly has developed a strong reputation for pioneering treatments, particularly in diabetes and mental health. It introduced widely used medications such as Prozac in 1986 for depression, Zyprexa in 1996 for schizophrenia, and Cymbalta in 2004 for depression and anxiety. In the field of diabetes care, Lilly’s Humalog and Trulicity have been major revenue drivers. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was also the first to mass-produce both the polio vaccine and insulin. More recently, the company has made significant strides by developing more best-selling drugs such as Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Currently, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is making a significant investment in its experimental oral weight-loss drug, orforglipron, by accumulating nearly $550 million in pre-launch inventory ahead of its expected 2026 release. This move, which was revealed in a recent financial filing, is uncommon as most pharmaceutical companies typically build inventory closer to regulatory approval. The strategy suggests that the company is aiming for a strong market entry to gain an early advantage over competitors in the weight-loss treatment sector. Currently, the company and Danish rival Novo Nordisk dominate this market with injectable medications, while Novo and other firms like AstraZeneca are also working on oral obesity treatments. Analysts estimate that Lilly’s pre-launch inventory could translate into $10 billion in sales based on 2024 figures, with expectations of further expansion. The company’s confidence in orforglipron is reinforced by promising mid-stage trial results, which showed a 14.7% weight reduction at the highest dose over 36 weeks. With late-stage data anticipated by April, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is already scaling up manufacturing to ensure a timely launch.

Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company best known for developing and selling GLP-1 medications for diabetes and obesity. Shares detracted from performance as recent GLP-1 revenue results missed heightened expectations. We view Lilly’s Mounjaro/Zepbound GLP-1/GIP drug as an important treatment for diabetic and non-diabetic obese patients and see Lilly continuing to innovate and develop more effective and convenient next-generation medications. Although manufacturing supply and access is limited in the near term, we think this class of drug should be the standard of care for both diabetes and obesity and will become a $150 billion category. We think the recent revenue miss related to the mistiming of demand-generation activities with supply increases and elevated investor expectations after a very strong result in the prior quarter. We think this market is in the early innings of uptake and the adoption of GLP-1s will triple Lilly’s total revenues by 2030.”

Overall, LLY ranks 10th on our list of top stocks to buy according to sustainable insight capital management. While we acknowledge the potential for LLY as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LLY but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.