Fulton Bank N.A. Boosts Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,355 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 102,209.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,522,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,241,000 after buying an additional 4,517,637 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 167.6% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,827,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,125,000 after buying an additional 1,144,307 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Novartis by 103.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,992,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,847,000 after buying an additional 1,010,806 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,803,000 after purchasing an additional 686,847 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 27.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,781,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,085,000 after purchasing an additional 594,194 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Novartis Stock Down 1.1 %

NVS stock opened at $95.79 on Friday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $108.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.09 and a 200-day moving average of $99.50.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released 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). Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $3.7772 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.26%.

Novartis 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.