Foster Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Foster Group Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,123 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $103.09 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.57. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $210.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis 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.