Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases 2,366 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,866 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 7.4% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 13,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.8% during the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 155,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,791,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 26,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

Novartis stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,045,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,908,977. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.96. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $198.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend 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.