Truist Financial Corp Buys 34,147 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 832,614 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,147 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Novartis were worth $106,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,762,000 after acquiring an additional 358,282 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.4% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,427,000 after acquiring an additional 78,483 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 8.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,736,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 128,302 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,597,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,552,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.1% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,135,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,386,000 after purchasing an additional 33,954 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $147.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.88. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $97.71 and a 52-week high of $152.48. The firm has a market cap of $312.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $137.47 and its 200-day moving average is $129.22.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

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.