HF Advisory Group LLC Acquires 1,368 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 40.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,710 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,368 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,568,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 368.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15,927 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 247,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,021,000 after buying an additional 58,395 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 8.1% during the third 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 period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Three investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Novartis Trading Down 0.5 %

Novartis stock opened at $92.57 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.03. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78. The company has a market capitalization of $196.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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

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.