Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 17% to 6,255,669 shares as of March 31, reducing the days-to-cover to 3.4 and leaving just 0.3% of shares sold short.
• Major institutions increased stakes—Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares (+14.9%) and Auto Owners Insurance added 4,594,726 shares (bringing its total to 4,628,296); institutional investors own 13.12% of the stock.
• Novartis beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.03 vs. $1.99) with revenue of $13.86B (+1.4% YoY), declared an annual dividend of $4.773 per share (paid Mar 16), and holds a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Hold" with a $141.20 price target.

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,255,669 shares, a drop of 17.0% from the March 15th total of 7,533,454 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,834,458 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Novartis by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,223,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,033 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 3.1% in 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. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Novartis by 13,687.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $638,103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,594,726 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,605,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,658,000 after purchasing an additional 78,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,562,000 after purchasing an additional 419,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NVS traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $149.77. 1,065,990 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,210,390. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Novartis has a 1-year low of $104.93 and a 1-year high of $170.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $157.22 and a 200-day moving average of $142.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. DZ Bank lowered Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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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