YANKCOM Partnership Invests $804,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Novartis by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 53,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Novartis by 128.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 4.1 %

Novartis stock opened at $109.84 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $224.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.18 and its 200 day moving average is $108.41. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.