CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Buys Shares of 503,454 Novartis AG $NVS

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 503,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,563,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. South Plains Financial Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 39.0% during 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 during the period. Country Trust Bank increased its stake 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 period. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of Novartis by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.80.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $154.86 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $170.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $154.95 and its 200-day moving average is $138.79. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors 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 payout ratio is presently 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.