OLD Mission Capital LLC Sells 37,778 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

OLD Mission Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,778 shares during the quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $13,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 128,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,544,000 after acquiring an additional 12,009 shares in the last quarter. Mosaic Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Financial Group LLC now owns 15,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 4,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 47,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,589,000 after purchasing an additional 12,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $111.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $227.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $108.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.10. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

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