Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Makes New $625,000 Investment in Novartis AG $NVS

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Novartis by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,033 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,465,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,317,000 after purchasing an additional 226,484 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,605,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,658,000 after purchasing an additional 78,390 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,562,000 after purchasing an additional 419,988 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,158,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,414,000 after purchasing an additional 895,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $153.03 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $112.34 and a 12 month high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.21.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. Novartis’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on NVS shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

About Novartis

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.