Highland Capital Management LLC Acquires 150 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,682 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,556,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,587,000 after acquiring an additional 240,710 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Novartis by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 42.4% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,272 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 95,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,379,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.33.

Novartis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $95.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $89.76 and a 52-week high of $108.78. The company has a market capitalization of $203.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $102.01 and its 200 day moving average is $99.80.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. It 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.