Gradient Investments LLC Has $2.02 Million Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,661 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,390 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,376,000 after acquiring an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Novartis by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,427,000 after acquiring an additional 78,483 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,605,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,658,000 after purchasing an additional 78,390 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Novartis by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,371,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,107,000 after purchasing an additional 168,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 4.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,302,000 after purchasing an additional 82,369 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.80.

Novartis Stock Up 1.4%

NVS stock opened at $148.09 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $97.71 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $155.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.37.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. Novartis’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a $4.773 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a yield of 306.0%. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 43.02%.

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.