OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys New Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on NVS shares. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $109.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $231.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $109.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.72.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Novartis’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.47%.

Novartis 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.