AlphaCore Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Key Points

• AlphaCore Capital LLC has acquired a new stake of 4,700 shares in Novartis AG, valued at approximately $524,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Novartis, with BNP Paribas assigning a "strong-buy" rating and Morgan Stanley setting a price target of $123.00.
• Novartis reported quarterly earnings of $2.42 EPS, which surpassed analysts' expectations, with revenue increasing 12.3% year-over-year to $14.05 billion.

AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $524,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $116.80 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $124.83. The company has a market capitalization of $246.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.62. The business's fifty day moving average price is $118.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.