Foresight Global Investors Inc. Increases Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Foresight Global Investors increased its stake in Novartis by 4.1% in Q3 to 171,683 shares (worth $22.02M), making the stock its second-largest holding at 13.1% of the firm's portfolio.
• Other institutions also adjusted positions—Fisher Asset Management now holds ~7.24M shares (~$928M)—and institutional ownership of Novartis is about 13.12%; analysts are mixed, with recent upgrades from JPMorgan and BofA but a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" and a $119.75 price target.
• Novartis slightly beat quarterly EPS expectations ($2.03 vs. $1.99) and announced an annual dividend of $4.773 per share payable March 16, with the record/ex-dividend date on March 11.

Foresight Global Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 171,683 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,759 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up 13.1% of Foresight Global Investors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Foresight Global Investors Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $22,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 15.6% in 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 during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 5.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 132,536 shares of the company's stock worth $17,001,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 439,879 shares of the company's stock worth $56,411,000 after purchasing an additional 23,978 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $928,376,000 after purchasing an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,305,000 after purchasing an additional 14,032 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Novartis from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of America upgraded Novartis from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $160.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $340.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.49. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $97.71 and a 12 month high of $170.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.89.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $4.773 per share. This represents a yield of 312.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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