HF Advisory Group LLC Acquires 1,910 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

HF Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,955 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on NVS. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $117.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $110.33 and its 200 day moving average is $106.36.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share 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.