Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Has $667,000 Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,668,000 after acquiring an additional 18,894 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 135.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 157,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,088,000 after acquiring an additional 18,990 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $112.11 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $106.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.