Caprock Group LLC Buys Shares of 34,496 Novartis AG $NVS

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 34,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,366,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank boosted its position in Novartis by 47.4% during the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $159.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis AG has a one year low of $97.71 and a one year high of $160.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.77. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $524.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Cfra Research raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

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.