Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,074 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,894 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $8,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 503.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $102.29 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $100.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

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.