Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 292 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,780 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 1.7% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 1.1% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five 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.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE NVS opened at $106.98 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $218.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.35. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.42 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.