DGS Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,918 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,601 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares during the quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after buying an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,096,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $21,078,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $19,878,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $99.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

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.