Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Holdings Raised by Davidson Trust Co.

Davidson Trust Co. raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,864 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Novartis by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. 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 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded up $1.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $93.92. The company had a trading volume of 946,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,478,100. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.22 and its 200 day moving average is $99.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve 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.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $3.7772 per share. 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 yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.84%.

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.