Novartis AG $NVS Shares Acquired by Compound Planning Inc.

Key Points

• Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in Novartis AG by 36.6% during the first quarter, acquiring 5,828 additional shares to bring its total holdings to 21,761 shares valued at $2.426 million.
• Novartis was recently upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" to an "equal weight" rating with a price target of $123.00, while the consensus average rating remains "Hold" with a target of $123.50.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.42, exceeding expectations, and its revenue reached $14.05 billion, up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Compound Planning Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 36.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,761 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,828 shares during the quarter. Compound Planning Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 60.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $109,739,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.3%

NVS stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $126.96. 697,666 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,945,632. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $119.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.00. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $128.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.62.

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