Key Financial Inc Buys 181 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Novartis were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 102,209.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,522,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,517,637 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 167.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Novartis by 103.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,992,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,847,000 after buying an additional 1,010,806 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,803,000 after buying an additional 686,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,781,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,085,000 after buying an additional 594,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,168,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,803. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.12. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $108.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $197.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly 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 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. 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 company earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $3.7772 dividend. 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. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is 33.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of 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 started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. It 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.