Haverford Trust Co Boosts Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,939 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $111.14 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.29. The stock has a market cap of $227.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.69%.

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.