Pegasus Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 27,320 Novartis AG $NVS

Pegasus Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 27,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,173,000. Novartis accounts for 1.3% of Pegasus Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,376,000 after purchasing an additional 117,952 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 537,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,935,000 after purchasing an additional 82,226 shares during the last quarter. BXM Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 726.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 2,561.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 38,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,375,000 after purchasing an additional 37,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 197.1% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 22,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 15,235 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Up 1.2%

Novartis stock opened at $154.91 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.46. 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 company has a market cap of $295.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.46. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $112.34 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46.

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

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.