Wealth Alliance Sells 177 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Wealth Alliance lessened its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,420 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Novartis were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Novartis by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $6,568,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 368.3% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15,927 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 247,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,021,000 after purchasing an additional 58,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Novartis by 8.1% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 7,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.33.

Novartis Trading Down 0.5 %

NVS opened at $92.57 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $98.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is 33.84%.

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.