Calamos Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 93.0% in the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its stake in Novartis by 425.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Up 1.3%

NVS stock opened at $152.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $151.26 and a 200-day moving average of $151.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. Novartis AG has a one year low of $112.34 and a one year high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.

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.