Allworth Financial LP Purchases 91,866 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2,354.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 95,768 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,866 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $9,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Novartis by 128.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after acquiring an additional 296,890 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth about $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,096,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,795,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $105.43 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $100.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.42 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.