SageView Advisory Group LLC Takes $3.14 Million Position in Novartis AG $NVS

SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 24,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,137,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 117,952 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Novartis by 1.4% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,427,000 after buying an additional 78,483 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,302,000 after buying an additional 82,369 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,597,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,552,000 after buying an additional 12,345 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,035,000 after buying an additional 480,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $161.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $97.71 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The stock has a market cap of $341.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $153.38 and a 200-day moving average of $137.80.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

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.