Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires New Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 26,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,601,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $109.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.09. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.