Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Trims Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 577,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,118 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $56,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NVS. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 5.8 %

NVS opened at $105.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.05. 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 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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.