Scotia Capital Inc. Purchases 218 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,747 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $107.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $219.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

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