FLC Capital Advisors Acquires Shares of 2,486 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 118.1% in the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $0.85 during trading on Thursday, hitting $96.73. 1,524,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,450,692. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $89.81 and a 1-year high of $108.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $102.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its 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). Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. The company had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.17 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on NVS shares. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Novartis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.