Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Jackson Square Capital LLC

Jackson Square Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 48.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,469 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,255 shares during the period. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. South Plains Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank boosted its stake in Novartis by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Argus raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Up 2.1%

NVS stock opened at $154.36 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $97.71 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The company has a market capitalization of $326.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $156.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. Novartis’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given 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 payout ratio is 43.02%.

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.