Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Syon Capital LLC

Syon Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,833 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Novartis by 88.1% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Novartis by 21.4% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 75.8% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,496,000 after acquiring an additional 14,797 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 4.2% during the third quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 6.9% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Novartis Stock Down 1.6 %

Novartis stock traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,467,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,560,452. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $199.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.99.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is 32.79%.

Novartis Company 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.