Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,479,307 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 419,988 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Novartis worth $617,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $33,000. South Plains Financial Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 39.0% during the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 271 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 15,950.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $146.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $279.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.52.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

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.