First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $5.17 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,648 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,207 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Novartis by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,372,000 after purchasing an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,706,000 after acquiring an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,522,000 after acquiring an additional 399,862 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after acquiring an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,990,000 after purchasing an additional 52,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $108.68 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.95. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $229.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.47%.

About Novartis

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.