4,565 Shares in Novartis AG $NVS Acquired by South Shore Capital Advisors

South Shore Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $629,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 77.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,362,000 after purchasing an additional 720,860 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth approximately $64,563,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 85.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,035,000 after purchasing an additional 480,201 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 52.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 876,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,120,000 after purchasing an additional 303,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 3,309.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 301,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,656,000 after purchasing an additional 292,595 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $153.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $323.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $156.77 and a 200-day moving average of $141.20. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $13.86 billion during 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%.Novartis’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

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.