Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,055 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,391 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 30,156 shares of the company's stock worth $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,725 shares of the company's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS traded up $3.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $115.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,448,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,593,588. 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 AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The business's 50-day moving average is $109.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.01. The company has a market capitalization of $244.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

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