Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Has $3.51 Million Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,438 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Novartis by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,176,000 after acquiring an additional 111,066 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 77,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,345 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 165,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,099,000 after buying an additional 8,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,365,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $117.56 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $113.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.66. The company has a market capitalization of $248.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.59.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Novartis had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 24.70%. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

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.