Blair William & Co. IL Decreases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Novartis were worth $7,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,668,000 after acquiring an additional 18,894 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 157,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,088,000 after buying an additional 18,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth approximately $2,674,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on NVS shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $112.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. Equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 42.69%.

Novartis Company 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.