Primecap Management Co. CA Has $1.20 Billion Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Primecap Management Co. CA cut its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,341,854 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,059,580 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,197,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NVS. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Novartis by 489.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 564,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,369,000 after buying an additional 469,080 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,762,000 after buying an additional 358,282 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 876,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,120,000 after acquiring an additional 303,553 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,297,000. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 78.0% during the 3rd quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 606,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,813,000 after acquiring an additional 265,861 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $166.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $148.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.15. 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 AG has a 1-year low of $97.71 and a 1-year high of $168.02.

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

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

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.