Hamel Associates Inc. Purchases 32,380 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Hamel Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 373.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,060 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,380 shares during the quarter. Novartis comprises approximately 1.6% of Hamel Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Hamel Associates Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS traded down $1.21 on Monday, reaching $116.49. The stock had a trading volume of 844,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,023,908. The company has a market capitalization of $246.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.59 and a 200-day moving average of $111.24. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $124.83.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.