Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 117 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,883 shares of the company’s stock after selling 117 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in Novartis by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 69.1% in the third quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.00.

Novartis Stock Up 0.9 %

NVS traded up $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.20. 1,220,349 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,535,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $97.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.99. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $108.78. The stock has a market cap of $200.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 33.84%.

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.