Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Grows Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 54.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,320 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,279 shares during the quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,376,000 after purchasing an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,605,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,658,000 after buying an additional 78,390 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Novartis by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,371,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,107,000 after buying an additional 168,573 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 4.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,302,000 after buying an additional 82,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 77.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,362,000 after buying an additional 720,860 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE:NVS opened at $152.74 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $170.46. The company has a market cap of $322.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

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.