Novartis AG $NVS Shares Bought by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,470 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,490 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $7,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. South Plains Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 271 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $152.14 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $111.06 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.19. The firm has a market cap of $290.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. Novartis’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.