Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Purchases New Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $24,096,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Novartis in the third quarter valued at $21,078,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $19,878,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $103.09 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced 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. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS 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.