West Oak Capital LLC Buys 350 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,958 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 118.1% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Novartis Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NVS traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $96.60. The stock had a trading volume of 339,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,430,510. The company has a market capitalization of $204.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $89.81 and a 12 month high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend 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.