Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 272,169 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,634 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up approximately 1.4% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $34,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 200.0% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank grew its holdings in Novartis by 47.4% in the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $53,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price objective on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Cfra Research raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Up 0.7%

Novartis stock opened at $161.14 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $340.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $97.71 and a fifty-two week high of $162.32.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $524.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 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.