Eldred Rock Partners LLC Sells 9,204 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Eldred Rock Partners LLC lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 81,549 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,204 shares during the period. Novartis makes up approximately 2.9% of Eldred Rock Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Eldred Rock Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $11,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,362,000 after acquiring an additional 720,860 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,563,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Novartis by 85.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,035,000 after purchasing an additional 480,201 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Novartis by 52.9% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3,309.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 301,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,656,000 after purchasing an additional 292,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $153.91 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $156.56 and a 200 day moving average of $140.52. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $97.71 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The company has a market cap of $325.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.52. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $4.773 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 306.0%. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 43.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Argus raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

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.