CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Purchases 18,447 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 495,791 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,447 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $63,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,563,000. Ariadne Wealth Management LP lifted its position in Novartis by 5.2% in the third quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 5,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 20.7% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 7,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in Novartis by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 10,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Novartis by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 154,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,768,000 after buying an additional 2,884 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock opened at $149.73 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $155.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.87. 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 firm has a market cap of $316.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.49. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $97.71 and a 52 week high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVS. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.80.

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.