Bailard Inc. Boosts Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Bailard Inc. grew its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 69.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,123 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,160 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.67.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS traded up $1.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $115.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 576,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,599,997. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $116.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $124.83.

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

Novartis Company 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.