Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 3,989 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Brandes Investment Partners LP cut its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 209,770 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,989 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $20,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NVS. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 13.5% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 3.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 33,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,894,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 62.7% in the third quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 1,703 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co boosted its position in Novartis by 41.6% in the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 20,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after buying an additional 6,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 2.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $109.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $223.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.77. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced 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 return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.