Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Sells 100 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $186,125,000 after buying an additional 1,144,307 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 50.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,803,000 after buying an additional 686,847 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 368,778 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 6,599.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,084,000 after purchasing an additional 147,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 48.6% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novartis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NVS traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $100.21. 1,384,390 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,543,380. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $97.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.07. 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 stock has a market cap of $204.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders 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 an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.