Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Holdings Raised by Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,724 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,212 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $8,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 503.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Novartis in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $101.85 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $208.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current 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.