Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,866 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,539,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,650,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 50.4% during the third 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. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,144,307 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,442,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,599,000 after buying an additional 33,791 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,431,000 after buying an additional 36,269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE NVS traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $97.27. 1,045,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,908,977. The company has a market capitalization of $198.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.35 and a 200 day moving average of $98.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued 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). Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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