Certior Financial Group LLC Invests $320,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 219,027 shares of the company's stock worth $25,194,000 after purchasing an additional 8,284 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 15.6% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Novartis by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 32,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $2,371,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $4.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $107.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,745,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,555,257. The company has a market capitalization of $219.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.56. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $108.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.44. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. 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 (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis's dividend payout ratio is 42.69%.

Novartis 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.