Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Holdings Raised by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 105.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,631 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,983 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $106.65 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $217.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.20.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share 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 37.24%. Analysts forecast 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.