Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Purchased by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 169,475 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,501 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $18,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,339,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Novartis by 14,376.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Novartis by 23.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $117.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 619,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,586,252. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.36. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $248.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The business 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 company posted $1.80 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVS. Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "underweight" rating for the company. BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.