Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,674 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,127 shares during the quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Novartis by 480.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. increased its stake in Novartis by 69.1% in the 3rd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NVS traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $97.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,067,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,514. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $198.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.99. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

About Novartis

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.