962 Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Bought by Bfsg LLC

Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Novartis by 480.0% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in Novartis by 69.1% during the third quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.00.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $98.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 768,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,672. The stock has a market cap of $201.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $97.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 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 issued its 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 31.12% and a net margin of 31.33%. The company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $3.7772 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Novartis 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.