Sivia Capital Partners LLC Purchases 227 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,572 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 227 shares during the quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Private Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $116.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $112.66 and its 200-day moving average is $104.51. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.48 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.