MW Advisory LLC Takes $601,000 Position in Novartis AG $NVS

MW Advisory LLC bought a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 13,687.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,103,000 after buying an additional 4,594,726 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $220,004,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Novartis by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,033 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,158,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,414,000 after purchasing an additional 895,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $108,638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Novartis Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $159.95 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $121.57 and a 52-week high of $170.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $155.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Novartis News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Novartis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Novartis reported that remibrutinib met the primary endpoint in two Phase 3 trials for relapsing multiple sclerosis. The result supports the potential expansion of the drug beyond its existing development opportunities. Novartis Remibrutinib Phase 3 Trial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Novartis’ recent Basel-related move and a reported multibillion-dollar investment to improve how an existing medicine is delivered point to a shift in strategic priorities. The initiative could support product differentiation and lifecycle management, although its financial impact is not yet clear. Novartis Basel Strategic Move
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders purchased a large volume of Novartis put contracts, signaling increased near-term hedging or bearish speculation. This reflects market sentiment rather than a change in the company’s fundamentals. Novartis Put Option Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Novartis and partner Ionis Pharmaceuticals said pelacarsen failed to reduce major cardiovascular events in a Phase 3 trial. The setback weakens the outlook for a closely watched treatment targeting lipoprotein(a), a major potential growth opportunity in cardiovascular medicine. Pelacarsen Late-Stage Trial Failure
• Negative Sentiment: Novartis paused eight experimental rap-cel CAR-T trials after three patient deaths linked to severe immune reactions. The safety issue threatens development of the company’s autoimmune and neurological cell-therapy programs and raises regulatory and disclosure concerns. Novartis CAR-T Trial Halt
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group Bank lowered its earnings estimates for Novartis, adding pressure to expectations for future results. Combined with the pelacarsen failure and CAR-T safety pause, the revisions reinforce concerns about pipeline execution. Erste Group Cuts Novartis Earnings Estimates

About Novartis

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.