Yousif Capital Management LLC Purchases 2,500 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,148 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 69.1% during the 3rd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $97.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $199.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.99. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $3.7772 dividend. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

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.