C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Purchases 1,398 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 34.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,495 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after buying an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,669,000 after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,986,000 after acquiring an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Novartis by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after acquiring an additional 123,077 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 128.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $107.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $219.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.34.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 earnings per share 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.