Assetmark Inc. Raises Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 358,151 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,243 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $45,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after buying an additional 11,444 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 48.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 28,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Cfra set a $126.00 target price on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $163.09 on Friday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $163.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $344.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.30.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company had revenue of $524.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a dividend yield of 312.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.