Viking Fund Management LLC Takes $111,000 Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,339,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,079,000 after acquiring an additional 722,272 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE NVS opened at $116.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $110.15 and its 200 day moving average is $106.22.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.