Maverick Capital Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 37.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,247 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,174 shares during the quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 102.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,516,000 after acquiring an additional 11,444 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at about $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $156.13 on Tuesday. 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 AG has a 52-week low of $112.34 and a 52-week high of $170.46. The stock has a market cap of $297.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $152.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.33.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.56% and a net margin of 23.29%.The firm had revenue of $14.95 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.77 EPS for the current year.

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.