Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS – Free Report) by 48.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 447,582 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 146,327 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Novartis were worth $45,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 118.1% in the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $126,000. 7.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.33.
Novartis Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:NVS traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.71. 888,459 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,467,027. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $79.98 and a 52-week high of $108.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.09. The company has a market cap of $213.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.54.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.
Novartis Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors 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 currently 34.26%.
Novartis Company Profile
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.