Gitterman Wealth Management LLC Has $409,000 Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Gitterman Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,048 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up about 0.2% of Gitterman Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,568,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 368.3% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15,927 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 247,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,021,000 after buying an additional 58,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Novartis by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 7,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,562,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,393. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $199.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.99. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.