Evolve Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,827,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 710 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its holdings in Novartis by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 16,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE NVS opened at $150.97 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $112.34 and a 12 month high of $170.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $149.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.65. The stock has a market cap of $288.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.