Tyche Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 2,137 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $92.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $196.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $108.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $98.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.03.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.84%.

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.