Novartis AG (NVS) to Issue Annual Dividend of $4.77 on March 16th

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) declared an annual dividend on Wednesday, February 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of 4.773 per share on Monday, March 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 312.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th.

Novartis has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.3%annually over the last three years. Novartis has a dividend payout ratio of 28.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Novartis to earn $8.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.59 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.4%.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $153.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $324.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $154.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $140.19 and its 200 day moving average is $130.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $524.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.70% and a net margin of 25.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NVS. Cfra Research raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.