PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 212,784 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,967 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $27,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Novartis by 489.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 564,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,369,000 after purchasing an additional 469,080 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.3% in the second 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. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 876,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,120,000 after buying an additional 303,553 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,297,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 63.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 631,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,374,000 after acquiring an additional 244,037 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE NVS opened at $166.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $144.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.22. The company has a market capitalization of $350.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $97.71 and a 12 month high of $167.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $524.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

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.