Mengis Capital Management Inc. Acquires 6,750 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,748 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,750 shares during the quarter. Novartis comprises 1.7% of Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $9,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 102.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 11,444 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $202,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE NVS opened at $147.17 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $112.34 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.Novartis’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on NVS. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.