John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Lowers Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 180,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,790 shares during the period. Novartis makes up 2.9% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $18,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Davidson Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 7,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in Novartis by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 3,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after buying an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $735,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Novartis in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.33.

Novartis Trading Up 2.0 %

NVS stock traded up $1.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $94.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,899,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,490,273. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.22 and a 200-day moving average of $99.03. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $108.78. The stock has a market cap of $200.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced 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 net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. 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 previous year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.84%.

Novartis Profile

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. It 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.