AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.29 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Allen Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NVS. 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 assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $108.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $222.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $102.36 and a 200-day moving average of $108.08. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current 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.