Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV Purchases New Shares in Novartis AG $NVS

Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,000. Novartis comprises about 1.0% of Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Novartis by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,033 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 39.6% in the 4th 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. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $108,638,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 77.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,362,000 after purchasing an additional 720,860 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Novartis by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 960,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,999 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NVS stock opened at $151.66 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.36. The company has a market cap of $289.38 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.