Stonegate Investment Group LLC Takes Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company's stock worth $41,176,000 after buying an additional 111,066 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Novartis by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 77,783 shares of the company's stock worth $7,569,000 after buying an additional 3,345 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 165,442 shares of the company's stock worth $16,099,000 after acquiring an additional 8,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,365,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BNP Paribas raised 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 given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS traded up $1.39 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $118.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,040,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,581,506. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $251.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.66.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. Novartis's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current 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.