Xponance Inc. Acquires 131 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,600 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after buying an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,990,000 after buying an additional 52,044 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,339,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Novartis by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 771,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,090,000 after acquiring an additional 27,092 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NVS opened at $112.69 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $107.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s payout ratio is 42.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on NVS shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis AG engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology.