Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Takes $1.13 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Novartis by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,372,000 after buying an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,706,000 after buying an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Novartis by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,522,000 after buying an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after buying an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,990,000 after buying an additional 52,044 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $112.77 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $109.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.84. The stock has a market cap of $238.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVS. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.