Novartis AG $NVS Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 900,018 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,020 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $115,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 8.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 455,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,350,000 after acquiring an additional 35,969 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Novartis by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in Novartis by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 121,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,612,000 after purchasing an additional 6,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NVS opened at $160.21 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.30. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Novartis Company 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.