Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $145.60 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,442,003 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,791 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.07% of Novartis worth $145,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,144,307 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 50.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 1,936.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 387,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,158,000 after purchasing an additional 368,778 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 6,599.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,084,000 after buying an additional 147,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 48.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 447,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,591,000 after buying an additional 146,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.25. 1,045,666 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,559,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.96.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is 32.79%.

About Novartis

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.