CoreFirst Bank & Trust Invests $225,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $111.14 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $106.91 and a 200 day moving average of $107.29. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $227.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on NVS shares. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued 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. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.