Eli Lilly acquired Morphic for $3.2 billion in cash
Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY) announced earlier today it will acquire Morphic Holding (NASDAQ:MORF) for $3.2 billion in cash, expanding its inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) drug portfolio. In turn, the former is up 0.4% to trade at $918.28, while the latter is 75.2% higher to trade at $55.77 at last check.
Eli Lilly stock notched a fresh record high of $918.40 right out of the gate, after bouncing off support from the $880 level and 20-day moving average. Shares boast a 57.5% year-to-date lead, and added 103.1% in the last 12 months.
Despite this strong technical backdrop, options traders lean bearish toward LLY. This is per the equity's International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.03, which ranks in the 97th percentile of annual readings.
Meanwhile, Morphic stock is on track for its best single-day percentage gain since March 2021. The security is also trading at its highest level since September, prior to a bear gap that culminated in a 65% loss in the span of just two days. The equity has added 93.1% so far this year.
Short-term options traders are pessimistic toward MORF. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 9.60 that sits in the 88th percentile of its annual range.