Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 61.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,271 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,134 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank boosted its stake in Novartis by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 28.0% during the second quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NVS. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, November 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $163.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average is $143.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.51. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $97.71 and a 52-week high of $163.42. The firm has a market cap of $344.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 2.45 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The business had revenue of $524.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given 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%.

Novartis Company 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.