Godsey & Gibb Inc. Grows Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 195,457 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,170 shares during the quarter. Novartis accounts for about 2.1% of Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $21,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Novartis by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,176,000 after purchasing an additional 111,066 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 16,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 129.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 98,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,560,000 after acquiring an additional 55,581 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 77,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $301,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.2%

NVS opened at $118.02 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $110.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.56. The company has a market capitalization of $249.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. 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.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.