AlphaCore Capital LLC Buys 15,235 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 197.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,964 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,235 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 5.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,762,000 after purchasing an additional 358,282 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 78,483 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,302,000 after purchasing an additional 82,369 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,597,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,552,000 after buying an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 927,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,214,000 after buying an additional 30,950 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $165.59 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $97.71 and a 1 year high of $168.02. The company has a market cap of $349.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $149.26 and its 200 day moving average is $135.36.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NVS. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

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.