Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Novartis (NYSE:NVS)

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 38,221 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,673% compared to the average daily volume of 2,156 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Bank of America upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.80.

Novartis Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $155.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $329.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.92. Novartis has a 1 year low of $97.71 and a 1 year high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $4.773 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 306.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.31%.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Novartis by 13,687.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,594,726 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,033 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,158,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,414,000 after acquiring an additional 895,255 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,638,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,362,000 after purchasing an additional 720,860 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.