Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,674 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,635 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 167.6% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,827,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,125,000 after buying an additional 1,144,307 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 50.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,803,000 after buying an additional 686,847 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 1,936.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 387,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,158,000 after acquiring an additional 368,778 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 6,599.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,084,000 after acquiring an additional 147,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in Novartis by 48.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 447,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after acquiring an additional 146,327 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $97.44 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $199.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Company Profile

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.