Watershed Private Wealth LLC Buys New Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Watershed Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $88,339,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock worth $81,079,000 after acquiring an additional 722,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Up 0.2%

NVS traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $118.03. 608,889 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,586,136. The stock has a market cap of $249.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The stock's 50-day moving average is $110.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis 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.