Perigon Wealth Management LLC Purchases 3,543 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,543 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 15.6% during the third quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 85,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after purchasing an additional 11,500 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,924 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,376,000 after buying an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 27.7% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,305,000 after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $153.91 on Friday. 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 AG has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $170.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $156.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $325.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.52.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion during 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%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

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.