D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 4,833 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 219,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,833 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $30,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,516,000 after acquiring an additional 11,444 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NVS stock opened at $145.36 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $155.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.55. The company has a market cap of $277.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.52. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $104.93 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $4.773 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 306.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

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.