MAI Capital Management Buys 5,295 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 21.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,788 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,295 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 5.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,762,000 after acquiring an additional 358,282 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,427,000 after purchasing an additional 78,483 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,302,000 after purchasing an additional 82,369 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Novartis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,597,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,552,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 927,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,214,000 after purchasing an additional 30,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NVS opened at $168.61 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $149.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $97.71 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $4.773 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a yield of 312.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

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.