Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stake Boosted by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 99.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,503 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,539,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,650,000 after purchasing an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis by 50.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,803,000 after buying an additional 686,847 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $186,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,307 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 3.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,431,000 after acquiring an additional 36,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 863,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,993,000 after acquiring an additional 85,075 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $97.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $198.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.96.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. The company had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note 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.