Shrier Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Novartis AG $NVS

Shrier Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 24,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,000. Novartis accounts for approximately 1.3% of Shrier Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 85,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after buying an additional 11,500 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 132,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,001,000 after buying an additional 6,924 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 439,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,411,000 after buying an additional 23,978 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,376,000 after acquiring an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 27.7% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,305,000 after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 1.6%

NVS opened at $152.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $322.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $97.71 and a 52 week high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The business’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis 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.