Texas Bank & Trust Co Buys New Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Texas Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $88,339,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock worth $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company's stock worth $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.5%

NVS stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $112.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,481,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,172. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $109.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.76. The stock has a market cap of $238.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

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.