First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 8.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 455,003 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35,969 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $58,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,762,000 after purchasing an additional 358,282 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Novartis by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 876,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,120,000 after purchasing an additional 303,553 shares in the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 78.0% in the third quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 606,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,813,000 after buying an additional 265,861 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 63.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 631,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,374,000 after buying an additional 244,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 65.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 588,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,198,000 after buying an additional 231,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $161.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $341.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $153.38 and its 200 day moving average is $137.80. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $170.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted 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 business had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $4.773 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 295.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis 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.