Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 2,711 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Key Points

• Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake of 2,711 shares in Novartis AG, valued at approximately $302,000, during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in Novartis, with Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raising its stake by over 1,000% to nearly $10.4 million after acquiring an additional 84,563 shares.
• Novartis received a recent upgrade to a "strong-buy" rating from BNP Paribas, while it has an average stock rating of "Hold" with a consensus price target of $123.50 from various analysts.

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in Novartis in the first quarter worth $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Novartis in the first quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE NVS traded up $1.04 on Thursday, hitting $122.24. 1,211,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,998,310. The company's 50 day moving average price is $118.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.62. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The firm's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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.