Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Has $2.19 Million Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,590 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Novartis comprises 1.4% of Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after buying an additional 54,683 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $208,803,000 after acquiring an additional 686,847 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 167.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,144,307 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 33,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,431,000 after acquiring an additional 36,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE NVS traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $101.09. The stock had a trading volume of 932,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,876. The company has a market capitalization of $206.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.66. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. Analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $3.7772 dividend. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

About Novartis

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.