Novartis AG $NVS Shares Acquired by First Pacific Financial

First Pacific Financial increased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,072 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,759 shares during the period. Novartis comprises 0.7% of First Pacific Financial’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 11,444 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter worth $202,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $153.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $325.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.52. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $97.71 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $156.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.52.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

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.