Caprock Group LLC Acquires Shares of 34,496 Novartis AG $NVS

Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,366,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Novartis by 489.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 564,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,369,000 after buying an additional 469,080 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,762,000 after acquiring an additional 358,282 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Novartis by 52.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 876,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,120,000 after purchasing an additional 303,553 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,297,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 63.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 631,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,374,000 after purchasing an additional 244,037 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $159.93 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.77. The stock has a market cap of $337.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $97.71 and a 12 month high of $160.18.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $524.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $4.773 dividend. This represents a yield of 312.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on NVS shares. Cfra set a $126.00 target price on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Company 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.