Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Buys 211 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,178 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NVS. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $111.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $227.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $104.66 and its 200-day moving average is $107.82.

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