1900 Wealth Management LLC Sells 259 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

1900 Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Novartis by 88.1% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Novartis by 21.4% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 3.4% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 2.8% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 75.8% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,496,000 after purchasing an additional 14,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on 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 shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.59. 1,752,267 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,509,768. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $3.7772 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.84%.

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.