Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases Shares of 26,731 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 26,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,601,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $109.15 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $101.69 and its 200-day moving average is $108.09. 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 $223.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS 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.