Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Acquired by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 81.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,092 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,350 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $4,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 366.0% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Novartis Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $121.90. 955,240 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,586,680. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $124.45. The company has a market cap of $257.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 24.70%. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.