Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Holdings Raised by Albert D Mason Inc.

Albert D Mason Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 96.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,028 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,774 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up approximately 2.0% of Albert D Mason Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Albert D Mason Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 16,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 129.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 98,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,560,000 after acquiring an additional 55,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 327,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,880,000 after acquiring an additional 16,901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $119.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,276,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,583,414. The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $252.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis 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.