World Investment Advisors Raises Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,471 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Novartis were worth $4,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in Novartis in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC grew its position in Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Novartis in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $121.90 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $257.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $124.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.98.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded 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 given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.67.

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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