Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 2,312 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after acquiring an additional 296,950 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after buying an additional 70,314 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 4.7% in the 4th 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. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Novartis by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 771,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,090,000 after buying an additional 27,092 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 128.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,554,000 after acquiring an additional 296,890 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $111.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.29. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $227.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.69%.

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.