Smart Money Group LLC Purchases 606 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Smart Money Group LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,144 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 606 shares during the quarter. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Novartis by 782.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $97.51 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $199.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.01.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 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 company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.