Moody National Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS – Get Rating) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,049 shares of the company’s stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Novartis were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. DF Dent & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.7% in the second quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.5% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 7,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.8% in the second quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 42.7% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.12% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Novartis from CHF 82 to CHF 84 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 5th. StockNews.com began coverage on Novartis in a research note on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.63.
Novartis Price Performance
Novartis Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $3.4694 dividend. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.6%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.61%.
About Novartis
Novartis AG is a holding company, which engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Innovative Medicines, Sandoz, and Corporate. The Innovative Medicines segment researches, develops, manufactures, distributes and sells patented pharmaceuticals, and is composed of two business units: Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
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