Mather Group LLC. Boosts Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,911 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 5,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.67.

Novartis Trading Up 0.6%

Novartis stock opened at $123.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $261.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $124.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.