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

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,668,000 after buying an additional 18,894 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 135.5% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $239,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 13.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 157,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,088,000 after purchasing an additional 18,990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $109.73 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $224.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.08.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.