Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by 1900 Wealth Management LLC

1900 Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 2.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,539,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,650,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,803,000 after purchasing an additional 686,847 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 167.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,827,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,307 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 3.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,431,000 after acquiring an additional 36,269 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Novartis by 10.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 863,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,993,000 after buying an additional 85,075 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Novartis Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE NVS traded up $2.47 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,752,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,509,768. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. The company has a market cap of $199.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.99.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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

About Novartis

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.