HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,353 shares of the company's stock after selling 55,507 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $22,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 33,856 shares of the company's stock worth $3,894,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 62.7% during the 3rd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,420 shares of the company's stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co raised its stake in Novartis by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 20,621 shares of the company's stock worth $2,372,000 after buying an additional 6,060 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company's stock worth $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.
Novartis Stock Performance
Shares of Novartis stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $111.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,174,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,439,730. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $227.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS 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, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Novartis Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.69%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.38.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on NVS
About Novartis
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Novartis, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Novartis wasn't on the list.
While Novartis currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering what the next stocks will be that hit it big, with solid fundamentals? Enter your email address to see which stocks MarketBeat analysts could become the next blockbuster growth stocks.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
