Novartis AG $NVS Shares Bought by HF Advisory Group LLC

HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 401.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,741 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,814 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $7,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 85,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,926,000 after purchasing an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 132,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,001,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 439,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,411,000 after purchasing an additional 23,978 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,376,000 after buying an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 27.7% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,305,000 after buying an additional 14,032 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $155.16 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $97.71 and a 1-year high of $170.46. The company has a market capitalization of $327.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.49. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $156.38 and a 200-day moving average of $140.43.

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

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price objective on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

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.