Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $88,339,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock worth $81,079,000 after buying an additional 722,272 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after buying an additional 399,862 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted 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 worth $259,706,000 after buying an additional 368,171 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $118.01. 548,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,585,847. The firm has a market cap of $249.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.46. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

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

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.