Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,508 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,381 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,372,000 after purchasing an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,990,000 after purchasing an additional 52,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $118.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $110.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS 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 net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.