Leo Wealth LLC Buys 2,297 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Leo Wealth LLC grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,170 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Novartis Trading Down 1.0%

NVS traded down $1.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $119.86. 629,675 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,584,825. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $124.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.17 and a 200 day moving average of $110.07.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.