Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Sells 130,112 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 700,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 130,112 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $89,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 11,444 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.80.

Novartis Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $153.46 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $154.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.49. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $170.46.

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

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $4.773 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 306.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.30%.

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.