First Affirmative Financial Network Raises Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,058 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $118.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $249.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $120.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.