SG Americas Securities LLC Takes Position in Novartis AG $NVS

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Novartis by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 537,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,935,000 after purchasing an additional 82,226 shares in the last quarter. BXM Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 726.9% in the fourth quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 42,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,903,000 after purchasing an additional 37,639 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2,561.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 38,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,375,000 after purchasing an additional 37,518 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 113,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,681,000 after buying an additional 14,352 shares during the period. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 401.0% during the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 54,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,547,000 after buying an additional 43,814 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE NVS opened at $156.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $299.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $150.23 and a 200-day moving average of $150.82. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $112.34 and a 12 month high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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