Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Position Lifted by Old Port Advisors

Old Port Advisors lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS – Get Rating) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,030 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $1,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. DF Dent & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.7% in the second quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.5% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 7,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.8% in the second quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Novartis by 42.7% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Citigroup cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Novartis from CHF 82 to CHF 84 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Morgan Stanley cut Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.63.

Novartis Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $82.19 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.75. The company has a market cap of $181.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $74.09 and a 1 year high of $94.26.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a $3.4694 dividend. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $1.18. This represents a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.61%.

About Novartis

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Novartis AG is a holding company, which engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Innovative Medicines, Sandoz, and Corporate. The Innovative Medicines segment researches, develops, manufactures, distributes and sells patented pharmaceuticals, and is composed of two business units: Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.