Kathmere Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 44.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,742 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,788 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $2,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company's stock worth $796,372,000 after purchasing an additional 90,823 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock worth $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.6% in the first quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,258,639 shares of the company's stock worth $140,313,000 after purchasing an additional 55,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $109,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Novartis Stock Down 2.3%

Novartis stock traded down $2.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $120.93. 2,754,113 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,588,640. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $116.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $255.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $124.83.

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