Farther Finance Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 87.8% in Q4, adding 16,069 shares to hold 34,378 shares valued at about $4.74 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus is an average rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $141.20, though Morgan Stanley raised its target to $170 while several firms issued downgrades.
• Novartis slightly beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.03 (vs. $1.99) and revenue of $13.86 billion (vs. $13.85B); the stock opened at $149.77 and the company has a market cap of about $285.8 billion, having recently paid an annual dividend of $4.773.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 87.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,378 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,069 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $4,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 271 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company 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 research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Down 1.5%

Novartis stock opened at $149.77 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $157.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.62. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $104.93 and a 1-year high of $170.46. The company has a market cap of $285.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. Novartis's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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