Narwhal Capital Management Has $5.18 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Narwhal Capital Management reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 53,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 667 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Novartis by 80.1% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 2,496 shares during the period. Blue Square Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 21,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 3,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monte Financial Group LLC grew its position in Novartis by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 53,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,228,000 after purchasing an additional 15,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $99.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.69.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.