Value Partners Investments Inc. Purchases 2,401 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 51.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,094 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,401 shares during the quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 22,112 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $120.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,540,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,583,421. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $122.75. The stock's 50 day moving average is $113.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.94. 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 firm has a market cap of $254.12 billion, a PE ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 1.73 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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. Novartis's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

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.