Perennial Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Perennial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 41,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,006,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Novartis by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 24,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Michels Family Financial LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,128,000. Finally, Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Down 1.2%

NVS stock traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $111.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,542,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,590,156. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company's fifty day moving average price is $109.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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.