CoreFirst Bank & Trust Buys Shares of 2,310 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,990,000 after acquiring an additional 52,044 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $88,339,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Novartis by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after acquiring an additional 123,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $111.14 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $106.91 and its 200 day moving average is $107.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $227.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

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.