Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 54.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,536 shares during the quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 124.3% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Novartis by 2,561.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 38,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,375,000 after buying an additional 37,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $150,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $150.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Novartis AG has a one year low of $97.71 and a one year high of $170.46. The company has a market cap of $317.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $4.773 per share. This represents a yield of 306.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 43.02%.

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.