Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lessened its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 485,330 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,238 shares during the period. Novartis comprises 1.1% of Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $62,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 40,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in Novartis by 5.2% in the third quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 8,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis by 14.7% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 60.7% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 18.9% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 34,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,433,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NVS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE NVS opened at $168.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $97.71 and a 52-week high of $170.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $149.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.71.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $4.773 per share. This represents a yield of 312.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.31%.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.