6,238 Shares in Novartis AG $NVS Bought by Fortis Capital Advisors LLC

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 6,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 489.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 564,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,369,000 after purchasing an additional 469,080 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,762,000 after buying an additional 358,282 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Novartis by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 876,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,120,000 after buying an additional 303,553 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,297,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 63.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 631,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,374,000 after acquiring an additional 244,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $152.08 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $97.71 and a 52-week high of $152.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on NVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price objective on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.