GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Has $107,000 Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 21.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NVS stock opened at $119.34 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $111.84 and a 200-day moving average of $107.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $252.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus 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.