51,531 Shares in Novartis AG $NVS Purchased by First National Bank of Omaha

First National Bank of Omaha acquired a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 51,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,148,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 77.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,362,000 after buying an additional 720,860 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth about $64,563,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Novartis by 85.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,035,000 after buying an additional 480,201 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,562,000 after buying an additional 419,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 242.0% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 528,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,873,000 after buying an additional 374,016 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $153.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 2.71 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.06. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $112.34 and a 52-week high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.83 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NVS. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.