Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $1.24 Billion Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,110,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 414,278 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.43% of Novartis worth $1,238,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Archer Investment Corp raised its position in shares of Novartis by 93.0% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust increased its position in shares of Novartis by 425.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Up 0.0%

NVS opened at $153.78 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.69. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $112.34 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $293.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.