Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Grows Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 249,622 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $24,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Novartis by 782.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $99.93 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.15 and a 200 day moving average of $108.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company 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 research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.