Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Bought by Strategic Investment Advisors MI

Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,679 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in Novartis were worth $455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $233,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 257.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 6,990 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 5.7% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 6,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 331,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,288,000 after purchasing an additional 14,858 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,267,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $103.37 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.69.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 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.