Elser Financial Planning Inc Acquires Shares of 8,978 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 8,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 128.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after buying an additional 296,890 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $24,096,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $21,078,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $106.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.32 and its 200 day moving average is $108.40. The company has a market cap of $217.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.