Henshaw Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Henshaw Capital increased its Novartis stake by 152.7% in the first quarter, ending with 12,295 shares valued at approximately $1.88 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to their positions, while hedge funds and institutions collectively own 13.12% of Novartis stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with seven Buy, seven Hold and two Sell ratings; the consensus rating is Hold with a $141.20 price target, below the stock’s reported $156.18 price.

Henshaw Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 152.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,295 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,430 shares during the quarter. Henshaw Capital LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. BXM Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 726.9% during the fourth quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 42,817 shares of the company's stock worth $5,903,000 after purchasing an additional 37,639 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Novartis by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 113,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,681,000 after buying an additional 14,352 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,043,000 after buying an additional 3,967 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Novartis by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 887,296 shares of the company's stock worth $122,332,000 after buying an additional 54,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 47,245 shares of the company's stock worth $6,514,000 after buying an additional 19,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $156.18 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $112.34 and a 12 month high of $170.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company's fifty day moving average price is $152.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.72.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company's activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.

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