Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Position Lowered by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,675 shares of the company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Novartis by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 530 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 33,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 8,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $97.27 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $198.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $97.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.96.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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