Allworth Financial LP Acquires 91,866 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2,354.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,768 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,866 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $9,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 280.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Down 2.1 %

Novartis stock opened at $105.43 on Monday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.70 and a 200 day moving average of $108.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $215.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current 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.