Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Holdings Lessened by Everett Harris & Co. CA

Everett Harris & Co. CA lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,436 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,556,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,587,000 after purchasing an additional 240,710 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in Novartis by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 42.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,272 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.5% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 95,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,379,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 22.8% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 0.9 %

NVS stock opened at $96.74 on Friday. 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 $89.81 and a 52-week high of $108.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $101.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company 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%. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is 34.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

About Novartis

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.