Cullen Investment Group LTD. Acquires Shares of 5,922 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $94.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.18. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders 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 a boost 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 is presently 34.26%.

Novartis Profile

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.