Cullen Investment Group LTD. Purchases 28,338 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 621.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,897 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,338 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 39.0% during the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 271 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its holdings in Novartis by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 2,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Up 1.4%

NVS opened at $150.69 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $155.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.58. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $97.71 and a 1-year high of $170.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $318.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.49.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Argus upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.80.

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.