Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 42.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 145,836 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,418 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $14,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $641,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Novartis by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,649,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $324,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $115.67 on Friday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $244.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $110.02 and a 200 day moving average of $106.09. 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 (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. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.