Forum Financial Management LP Raises Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,553 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,372,000 after purchasing an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,706,000 after acquiring an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,522,000 after buying an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 52,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $112.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. 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 AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $109.87 and a 200-day moving average of $105.85.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research 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 research report on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Company 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.