Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $262,000 Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,596 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,021 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Novartis by 480.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $100.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.50 and its 200 day moving average is $99.78. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.