Trust Co. of Vermont Purchases New Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Trust Co. of Vermont purchased 46,466 Novartis shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $7.28 million. Other major institutional investors, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, also increased their positions.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: seven analysts rate Novartis a Buy, seven recommend Hold and two recommend Sell. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $141.20.
• Novartis shares opened at $152.18, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $14.95 billion and earnings of $2.41 per share. Novartis posted a 23.29% net margin and a 38.56% return on equity.

Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 46,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,282,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Novartis by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company's stock worth $1,223,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,033 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,465,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,029,317,000 after purchasing an additional 226,484 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,962,794 shares of the company's stock worth $758,067,000 after buying an additional 413,778 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 13,687.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company's stock worth $638,103,000 after buying an additional 4,594,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company's stock worth $617,562,000 after buying an additional 419,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NVS opened at $152.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $290.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.83 and a 200 day moving average of $153.42. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $121.57 and a 52-week high of $170.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. The business had revenue of $14.95 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

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.

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