Michels Family Financial LLC Takes $339,000 Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Michels Family Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $88,339,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Novartis by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,522,000 after acquiring an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company's stock worth $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $113.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,301,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,119. The company's 50 day moving average price is $109.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.88. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current 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.