Novartis AG $NVS Stake Raised by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 358,151 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,243 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $45,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 200.0% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank lifted its stake in Novartis by 47.4% in the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $163.09 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $97.71 and a 52-week high of $163.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $344.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.50.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $524.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

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.