Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Purchases 2,308 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,835 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,308 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $120.30. 1,540,760 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,583,688. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $113.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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.