Smart Money Group LLC Purchases 606 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Smart Money Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 782.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $97.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $100.61 and its 200 day moving average is $109.01. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.