Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Purchased by Jacobs & Co. CA

Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,975 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Novartis were worth $300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth $28,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 118.1% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. StockNews.com started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.33.

Novartis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $95.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $89.76 and a 1 year high of $108.78. The company has a market capitalization of $203.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $102.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.80.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s payout ratio is 34.26%.

Novartis Profile

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. It 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.