46,436 Shares in Novartis AG $NVS Purchased by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 46,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,093,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 102.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after buying an additional 11,444 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the first quarter valued at $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 48.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth $202,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1%

NVS stock opened at $159.82 on Friday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $112.34 and a one year high of $170.46. The stock has a market cap of $304.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $149.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Argus upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.