HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 10,543 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253,203 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,543 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $32,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 200.0% in the second 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 period. Country Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 47.4% during the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Novartis Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:NVS opened at $165.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $349.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $167.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $145.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $4.773 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 312.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.