Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Position Lifted by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,173 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,538 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 503.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NVS opened at $105.43 on Friday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $215.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.33.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded 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 research report on Wednesday. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Company 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.