Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Novartis by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,033 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,465,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,317,000 after buying an additional 226,484 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 9.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,962,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,067,000 after buying an additional 413,778 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 13,687.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,103,000 after buying an additional 4,594,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,562,000 after buying an additional 419,988 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $159.06 on Friday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $121.57 and a twelve month high of $170.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.56% and a net margin of 23.29%. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 24th. 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Novartis Company 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.