Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $14.19 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 42.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,836 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 43,418 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $14,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on NVS. BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $1.61 on Wednesday, reaching $117.55. 384,510 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,588,292. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $248.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $110.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.28.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.