Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,285 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Novartis by 1.3% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 11,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Foresight Global Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,398,000. Vicus Capital lifted its stake in Novartis by 15.9% during the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 3,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 0.3% in the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 732,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,653,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 6.1% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $97.13. 1,359,888 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,567,841. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $97.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.98. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $108.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The company had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $3.7772 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. 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. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 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.