Value Partners Investments Inc. Grows Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,391 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 2.8%

NVS opened at $124.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $262.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $130.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

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.