May Hill Capital LLC Increases Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

May Hill Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 102.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,230 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,725 shares during the quarter. May Hill Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 77.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,362,000 after purchasing an additional 720,860 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at $64,563,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 85.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,035,000 after purchasing an additional 480,201 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3,309.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 301,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,656,000 after purchasing an additional 292,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 78.0% in the third quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 606,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,813,000 after purchasing an additional 265,861 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE NVS opened at $148.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $107.96 and a 52 week high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

About Novartis

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.