ABC Arbitrage SA Takes $24.37 Million Position in Novartis AG $NVS

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 176,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,368,000. Novartis accounts for 2.3% of ABC Arbitrage SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Trek Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Certior Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 3,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after buying an additional 899 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $342,000. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6%

NVS opened at $145.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. Novartis AG has a one year low of $104.93 and a one year high of $170.46. The company has a market cap of $276.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.51.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Argus raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

About Novartis

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.