B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS – Get Rating) by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,749 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,834 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 3.7% in the second quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 7,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Novartis by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 441 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $82.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $181.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.73. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $74.09 and a fifty-two week high of $94.26.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $3.4694 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $1.18. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Citigroup downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on Novartis from CHF 82 to CHF 84 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.63.

Novartis Company Profile

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Novartis AG is a holding company, which engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Innovative Medicines, Sandoz, and Corporate. The Innovative Medicines segment researches, develops, manufactures, distributes and sells patented pharmaceuticals, and is composed of two business units: Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.