Fifth Third Bancorp Has $5.44 Million Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 14.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,611 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,622 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust raised its position in Novartis by 425.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $153.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.61. The stock has a market cap of $293.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.