First Horizon Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,675 shares of the company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 2.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,539,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,650,000 after purchasing an additional 51,391 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 50.4% in 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 during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $186,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,307 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,442,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,599,000 after acquiring an additional 33,791 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 3.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,431,000 after purchasing an additional 36,269 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $97.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $198.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.48 and a 200 day moving average of $98.96. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $108.78. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.26 EPS 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 paid a $3.7772 dividend. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

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.