Spire Wealth Management Buys 37,518 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2,561.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,983 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,518 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 102.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after buying an additional 11,444 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 48.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Down 0.9%

NVS opened at $148.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.87. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $97.71 and a 1-year high of $170.46. The stock has a market cap of $313.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.49. 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 data on Wednesday, February 4th. 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 firm had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Novartis

Here are the key news stories impacting Novartis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic pipeline lift — acquisition adds Exl‑111, a next‑generation anti‑IgE candidate designed to dissociate receptor‑bound IgE and potentially deliver faster, deeper suppression across food allergy, urticaria and asthma; strengthens Novartis’ allergy franchise and long‑term growth optionality. Novartis press release
• Positive Sentiment: Third‑party validation of strategic rationale — Zacks and other outlets highlight the deal as a targeted move to shore up Novartis’ immunology/allergy pipeline, giving the company a potentially differentiated asset in an established biology area. Zacks: Novartis bolsters immunology pipeline
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price target lift — Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $170 and moved to overweight, suggesting upside based on the company’s pipeline and strategic M&A. That supports a constructive medium‑term view despite near‑term noise. Benzinga: Morgan Stanley raises PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Deal terms and timing — Novartis will pay up to $2.0B in upfront and milestone payments; transaction expected to close in H2 2026 subject to customary conditions. That sets clear milestone watches but implies multi‑year value realization. Reuters: Deal terms
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution on execution and timing — Goldman Sachs (via TipRanks) kept a Sell rating, citing long‑dated pipeline risk and looming loss‑of‑exclusivity (LOE) headwinds that the Excellergy add does not immediately offset; some investors may view the deal as expensive for an early‑stage asset. TipRanks: Goldman Sachs reaction

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.