Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.28 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,674 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,127 shares during the quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NVS. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 11,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in Novartis by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Novartis by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Moreno Evelyn V raised its position in Novartis by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 78,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,998,000 after buying an additional 3,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen Lawrence B raised its position in Novartis by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 25,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,582,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS traded down $0.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $97.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,067,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,514. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.99. The firm has a market cap of $198.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

About Novartis

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.