Unique Wealth Strategies LLC Purchases New Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 33,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 8,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.44. 1,562,845 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,827,393. The company has a market cap of $199.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $108.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its 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). 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This represents a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

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.