Syon Capital LLC Has $5.62 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Syon Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,833 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NVS. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 88.1% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 21.4% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 75.8% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,496,000 after purchasing an additional 14,797 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.2% in the third quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 6.9% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE NVS traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.44. 1,467,858 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,560,452. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.99. The company has a market capitalization of $199.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. The company had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.00.

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.