Jacobs & Co. CA Has $300,000 Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Jacobs & Co. CA grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,975 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Novartis were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in Novartis by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 530 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 33,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,338,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Brady Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of 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 started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $95.88 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $102.01 and its 200 day moving average is $99.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $203.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $89.76 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78.

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). The business had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $3.7772 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

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.