6,806 Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Acquired by Scissortail Wealth Management LLC

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $735,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in Novartis by 480.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Novartis Trading Down 1.3 %

Novartis stock traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.20. 1,914,845 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,559,637. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 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 quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.12.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $3.7772 dividend. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.84%.

About Novartis

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.