China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 33.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 5.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,762,000 after acquiring an additional 358,282 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Novartis by 1.4% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,427,000 after buying an additional 78,483 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 4.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,302,000 after purchasing an additional 82,369 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Novartis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,597,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,552,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 927,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,214,000 after purchasing an additional 30,950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Novartis

Here are the key news stories impacting Novartis this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Novartis reported positive topline Phase III results for oral remibrutinib in chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU), meeting primary endpoints across the most common CIndU types — a potential first targeted therapy for an underserved condition that could become a new product revenue stream. Novartis remibrutinib Phase III results
• Positive Sentiment: Novartis struck licensing/collaboration deals to expand its oral peptide/macrocyclic peptide programs — reports cite agreements worth up to ~$1.7–1.8 billion in milestones. These add to the company’s pipeline optionality in cardiovascular and orally delivered peptide therapeutics, supporting longer‑term growth potential. Unnatural Products licensing deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and outlook pieces are circulating that reassess Novartis’ trajectory and valuation; these provide context but are not single‑handedly catalytic. Where is Novartis headed?
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks issued mixed model updates: they raised some later‑period estimates (e.g., Q4 2026/ Q4 2027 and FY2028 projections) reflecting longer‑term strength, signaling upside in later years if pipeline launches succeed. (No direct article link provided here.)
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks also trimmed near‑term forecasts — lowering FY2026 and FY2027 estimates and cutting Q1 and Q2 2026 EPS projections — a negative for short‑term sentiment as lower near‑term earnings expectations can weigh on the stock. (Updates originate from Zacks research notes issued Feb. 18.)

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $163.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $146.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.66. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $97.71 and a 52 week high of $167.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $346.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.Novartis’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two equities 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

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.