Rhumbline Advisers Raises Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,600 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,846 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers' holdings in Novartis were worth $4,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $88,339,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock worth $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NVS stock opened at $119.34 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $111.84 and its 200-day moving average is $107.09.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The business 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%. Novartis's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus 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.

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