Ellevest Inc. Has $1.55 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Ellevest Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,970 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,326 shares during the quarter. Ellevest Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $796,372,000 after acquiring an additional 90,823 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,522,000 after buying an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $194,908,000 after buying an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,990,000 after buying an additional 52,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock traded down $1.45 on Friday, reaching $108.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,640,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,744. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $120.92. The business's 50-day moving average is $110.25 and its 200 day moving average is $105.84.

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

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 presently 40.47%.

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.