US Bancorp DE Acquires 31,197 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,257 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 31,197 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Novartis were worth $32,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 2,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co grew its stake in Novartis by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RD Lewis Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 1.9%

NVS stock opened at $168.61 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $97.71 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $356.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on NVS. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

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.