Novartis AG $NVS Position Boosted by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 31.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,559 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,720 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.3% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 2,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co boosted its position in Novartis by 2.3% during the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in Novartis by 0.4% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 24,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,978,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $166.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $350.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $97.71 and a 1 year high of $167.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.22.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $524.00 million for 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 revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

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.