WCM Investment Management LLC Invests $220 Million in Novartis AG $NVS

WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,463,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,004,000. WCM Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of Novartis at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Balefire LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 16,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in Novartis by 84.9% during the 1st quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 0.0%

NVS stock opened at $153.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $112.34 and a 1-year high of $170.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $151.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.69.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

About Novartis

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.