First American Trust FSB Purchases 361 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

First American Trust FSB raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,289 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the quarter. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Novartis were worth $534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Novartis by 480.0% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $93.19. The stock had a trading volume of 400,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,475,546. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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 cap of $197.53 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 posted 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 return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Three research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.33.

Novartis Company 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.