Moreno Evelyn V Sells 41,798 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Moreno Evelyn V lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 53.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,718 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,798 shares during the quarter. Novartis accounts for 1.7% of Moreno Evelyn V’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Moreno Evelyn V’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 167.6% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,827,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,125,000 after buying an additional 1,144,307 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 50.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,803,000 after purchasing an additional 686,847 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 1,936.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 387,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,158,000 after purchasing an additional 368,778 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 6,599.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,084,000 after purchasing an additional 147,165 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Novartis by 48.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 447,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,591,000 after purchasing an additional 146,327 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Stock Down 0.4 %

NVS stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $101.52. The stock had a trading volume of 454,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,499,368. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $108.78. The firm has a market cap of $207.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $97.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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

Novartis Company Profile

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.