FineMark National Bank & Trust Sells 597 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

FineMark National Bank & Trust decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 597 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 2.0% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 38,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,967,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 12.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 235,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,946,000 after acquiring an additional 26,946 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 457,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,026,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.67. 692,946 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,496,103. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $3.7772 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

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.