Financial Counselors Inc. Has $29.66 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,088 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,864 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $29,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $122.11. 1,003,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,584,830. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $125.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $115.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.07. The company has a market cap of $257.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.