Three Seasons Wealth LLC Acquires New Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Three Seasons Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,176,000 after acquiring an additional 111,066 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,668,000 after purchasing an additional 18,894 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,001,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,674,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on NVS. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $113.32. 1,325,968 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,548,589. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.56. 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 AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $109.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.13.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.05%.

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.