Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,780 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 503.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $106.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $218.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.