Foster & Motley Inc. Acquires 4,358 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 85.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,448 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,358 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $186,125,000 after buying an additional 1,144,307 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 686,847 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 1,936.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 387,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,158,000 after acquiring an additional 368,778 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 6,599.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,084,000 after purchasing an additional 147,165 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in Novartis by 48.6% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 2.3 %

NVS opened at $97.29 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $97.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.99. The firm has a market cap of $198.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business 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 firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This represents a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost 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 33.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets initiated 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Three research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

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.