Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,671 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,549 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 503.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on NVS. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $99.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.69. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis 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.