Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Decreases Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY reduced its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 581,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,558 shares during the quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Novartis were worth $74,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Novartis by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 85,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 132,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,001,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 439,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,411,000 after purchasing an additional 23,978 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,376,000 after purchasing an additional 117,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 27.7% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,305,000 after purchasing an additional 14,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $154.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $325.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.49. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $170.46. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.04.

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. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $4.773 dividend. This represents a yield of 306.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.80.

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.