Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) is First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,727 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up 3.2% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $14,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.1% during 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. increased its position in Novartis by 50.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in Novartis by 167.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,827,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,125,000 after buying an additional 1,144,307 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Novartis by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,431,000 after buying an additional 36,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Novartis by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 863,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,993,000 after buying an additional 85,075 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on 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 research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $97.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $3.7772 per share. This represents a 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 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.