IFG Advisory LLC Has $1.44 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

IFG Advisory LLC increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 427.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,869 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,430 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 8,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 28,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,172,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 23,813 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,655,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 29,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Finally, ProVise Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 132,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,807,000 after buying an additional 3,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.67.

Novartis Trading Up 1.3%

Novartis stock opened at $115.25 on Monday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $124.83. The company's fifty day moving average price is $117.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.83. 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 company has a market capitalization of $243.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.62.

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

About Novartis

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.

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