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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company's stock worth $41,176,000 after buying an additional 111,066 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 8,186 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $9,365,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 9.0% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $123.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,667,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,584,292. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.42. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $124.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $261.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.67.

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.