Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,075 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Country Trust Bank raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 47.4% during the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 342 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $168.61 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $170.46. The company has a market cap of $356.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a yield of 312.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio 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.