Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Position Raised by Blue Square Asset Management LLC

Blue Square Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,537 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after purchasing an additional 70,314 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,986,000 after purchasing an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,289,000 after purchasing an additional 123,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Novartis by 4.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,676,000 after purchasing an additional 13,486 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $99.93 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

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.