Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $264,000.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company's stock worth $41,176,000 after buying an additional 111,066 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 16,395 shares of the company's stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 129.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 98,412 shares of the company's stock worth $9,560,000 after acquiring an additional 55,581 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 77,783 shares of the company's stock worth $7,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $301,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Novartis Stock Up 0.6%
Shares of Novartis stock opened at $117.68 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $110.45 and its 200-day moving average price 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 AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $248.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.
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About Novartis
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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.
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