Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 107,678 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Novartis were worth $10,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 47,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 10,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 27,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,696,000 after acquiring an additional 3,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 105.9% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,983 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE NVS opened at $109.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $101.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.09. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $223.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on NVS. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

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.