RNC Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,807 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth approximately $6,568,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Novartis by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 7,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 161,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,488,000 after buying an additional 16,882 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 330,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,618,000 after buying an additional 4,510 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $95.62. 864,535 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,419,054. The company has a market cap of $202.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.54. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.82. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $89.76 and a 52-week high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $3.7772 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

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.