Brighton Jones LLC Acquires 2,666 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 76.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,153 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd 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. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 280.5% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE NVS opened at $99.93 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.