Occidental Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Occidental Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,490 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,133 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Novartis by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 33,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 4.6% in the second quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 3.4% during the third quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.85 on Friday, reaching $96.73. 1,524,700 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,422,256. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $89.81 and a 12-month high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $205.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $101.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.75.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.33.

About Novartis

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.