First Manhattan CO. LLC. Grows Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,648 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,207 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NVS traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $106.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,750,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,576,737. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.81. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis's payout ratio is currently 40.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.