Blue Square Asset Management LLC Has $1.83 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Blue Square Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 77.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,940 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,285 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up approximately 1.2% of Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 480.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.13.

Novartis Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $110.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,997,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,404. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.86 and a 200 day moving average of $101.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $225.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $111.71.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Profile

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.