Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 2,410 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,410 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Novartis by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,488,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,609,000 after acquiring an additional 377,693 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Novartis by 102,209.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,522,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,517,637 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 4.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,399,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,031,000 after purchasing an additional 193,519 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,131,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,577,000 after purchasing an additional 35,483 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 27.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,781,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,085,000 after purchasing an additional 594,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $93.52 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.24. The company has a market cap of $198.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54. 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 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current 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. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVS. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Novartis Company 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.