Unique Wealth Strategies LLC Invests $825,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $186,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,307 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 50.4% during the third 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 during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 368,778 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 6,599.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,084,000 after acquiring an additional 147,165 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 447,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after acquiring an additional 146,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of several research 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 objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Novartis Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:NVS traded down $1.62 on Friday, reaching $97.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,562,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,393. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $108.78. The stock has a market cap of $199.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.87 and a 200 day moving average of $98.99.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued 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 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.22 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 dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.79%.

Novartis 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.