Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Sells 1,476 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,476 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up about 3.8% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in Novartis by 480.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. grew its position in Novartis by 69.1% in the 3rd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NVS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS traded up $0.71 during trading on Thursday, hitting $99.06. 2,338,494 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,562,001. The company has a market cap of $202.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $108.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.99. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 31.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Novartis 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.