Principal Securities Inc. Acquires Shares of 20,149 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 20,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,034,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 0.8% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 47,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,882,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth $725,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 2.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 203,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,707,000 after buying an additional 4,524 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 11.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 18,586 shares of the company's stock worth $1,893,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $738,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock.

Novartis Trading Up 1.9 %

Novartis stock traded up $1.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.10. 1,843,440 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,847,700. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $97.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.07. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Novartis's previous annual dividend of $3.47. Novartis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.