Mondrian Investment Partners LTD Trims Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD trimmed its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 34.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 658,003 shares of the company’s stock after selling 342,156 shares during the quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings in Novartis were worth $68,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 253,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,665,000 after purchasing an additional 49,957 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 29,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,835 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 20,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.4 %

NVS opened at $109.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s payout ratio is 42.69%.

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.