Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Has $2.20 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,595 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up approximately 1.4% of Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,669,000 after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,986,000 after acquiring an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Novartis by 18.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after acquiring an additional 123,077 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,676,000 after purchasing an additional 13,486 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $103.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.69. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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.