Verity Asset Management Inc. Buys 543 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Verity Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,287 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 503.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $105.54 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.43. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 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 the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.79%. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal 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.