Callan Capital LLC Invests $467,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Callan Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 2.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,539,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,650,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 50.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,803,000 after purchasing an additional 686,847 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 167.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,144,307 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,431,000 after purchasing an additional 36,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 10.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 863,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,993,000 after purchasing an additional 85,075 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.00.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock traded down $1.62 on Friday, hitting $97.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,562,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,561,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.87 and its 200-day moving average is $98.99. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. The company has a market capitalization of $199.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

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