Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 80,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 567 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Novartis were worth $7,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $112.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $230.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.19.

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

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders 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 is currently 42.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Company 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.