Chase Investment Counsel Corp Takes Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 53,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,006,000. Novartis accounts for 1.8% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Novartis by 1.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,485,000 after acquiring an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Novartis by 314.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,563,000 after acquiring an additional 41,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the first quarter valued at $2,968,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.38.

Novartis Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded down $2.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $117.16. 230,461 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,402,519. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $112.25 and its 200-day moving average is $104.31.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Company 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.