Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 26,716 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB trimmed its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 64.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,716 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in Novartis by 7.9% in the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 10,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 154,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,565 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 4,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aureus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 3,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $148.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $97.71 and a 52-week high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a $4.773 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 306.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.80.

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.