Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its stake in Novartis by 13.4% in Q4, selling 279,382 shares and ending the period with 1,809,158 shares valued at about $249.43 million (≈0.09% of the company).
• Novartis missed quarterly EPS at $1.99 (consensus $2.11) but slightly beat revenue expectations at $13.52 billion, and analysts are mixed—average rating "Hold" with an average target of $141.20.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,809,158 shares of the company's stock after selling 279,382 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Novartis worth $249,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. South Plains Financial Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Country Trust Bank grew its holdings in Novartis by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NVS opened at $145.48 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $104.93 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The company has a market capitalization of $277.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $153.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.Novartis's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings cut Novartis from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novartis to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.20.

About Novartis

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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