ProVise Management Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

ProVise Management Group LLC increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,374 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,907 shares during the period. Novartis accounts for 1.3% of ProVise Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $18,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,376,000 after buying an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Novartis by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,427,000 after buying an additional 78,483 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,302,000 after buying an additional 82,369 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,597,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,552,000 after acquiring an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 927,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,214,000 after acquiring an additional 30,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $160.21 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $97.71 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $152.44 and its 200 day moving average is $137.30. The stock has a market cap of $338.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.49. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion during 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%. Novartis’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $4.773 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 312.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.31%.

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.