J Hagan Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

J Hagan Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $225,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $97,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 165,442 shares of the company's stock worth $16,099,000 after acquiring an additional 8,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $9,365,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS traded down $0.32 on Tuesday, reaching $121.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,546,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,310. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $124.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $115.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. Novartis's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Company 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.