Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,715 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,715 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NVS opened at $109.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $105.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.77. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its 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, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 (DPR) is presently 42.69%.

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.