Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Invests $232,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVS. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $105.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.30. 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 capitalization of $215.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVS. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

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.