Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 330 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,748 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 330 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McCarthy Grittinger Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 118.1% during the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.33.

Novartis Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $95.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $203.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.80. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $89.76 and a 1-year high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

About Novartis

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. It 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.