May Hill Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

May Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,669,000 after purchasing an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,990,000 after purchasing an additional 52,044 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $88,339,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Novartis by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 771,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,090,000 after purchasing an additional 27,092 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Stock Down 1.8 %

NVS stock opened at $109.49 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.06. The company has a market cap of $223.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 42.69%.

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.