Beddow Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Beddow Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,590 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,350 shares during the quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 1.0 %

NVS stock opened at $112.11 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s payout ratio is presently 42.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.