Natural Investments LLC Takes $374,000 Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $111.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.82. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.