Osprey Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Osprey Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NVS. BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $119.34. 1,276,426 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,583,414. The stock has a market cap of $252.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $111.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.98. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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.