10 Best Foreign Stocks With Dividends For Passive Income

8. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Dividend Yield as of February 3: 3.57%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) ranks 8th on our list of the best foreign stocks for passive income. It is a Swiss global healthcare company that develops, manufactures, and sells prescription medicines. The company’s therapeutic areas include heart, kidney, and metabolic health, immunology, neuroscience, cancer, eye care, and blood disorders.

Novartis announced positive results of its Phase III STEER study on December 30, 2024, which refers to the clinical efficiency and safety of OAV101 IT. OAV101 IT is a gene therapy meant for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 2, in patients aged two to under eighteen. The results showed significant improvement in motor function compared to a sham control. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) plans to forward these results to the FDA in 2025 for approval.

On January 31, 2025, the Swiss healthcare giant reported its Q4 2024 earnings. After adjustments for special items, the net income climbed 26% to $3.93 billion, which beat Wall Street expectations of $3.64 billion. According to the Q4 earnings call, Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)’s sales grew 16% on a constant currency basis during the quarter. Excluding the heart failure drug Entresto, which will lose its patent in mid-2025, the Novartis brand portfolio grew about 38%. This led the company to offer a 5% plus sales guidance until 2029, as well as a long-term growth forecast in the mid-single digits.

In the fourth quarter, Novartis also experienced a record-high free cash flow, which soared 24% to $16.3 billion. NVS attributes its stellar cash flow to its transformation into a pure pharmaceutical play. The company is set on sharing its success with shareholders and is on track to execute share buybacks of $5.4 billion in 2025. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) also declared an increase of 6% in its per-share dividend, which now stands at CHF 3.50. This marks the 28th consecutive yearly dividend hike by Novartis.

At the end of the third quarter, 24 Wall Street funds held shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), with the largest stakeholder being Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, owning 2.3 million shares valued at $264.6 million.