TrueMark Investments LLC Buys New Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company's stock worth $796,372,000 after acquiring an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company's stock worth $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $109,739,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $115.62 on Monday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $113.06 and a 200 day moving average of $107.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $244.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.59.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.

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