Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Purchases 52,044 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,161,139 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 52,044 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.06% of Novartis worth $112,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Novartis by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company's stock worth $39,676,000 after buying an additional 13,486 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.4% in the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC increased its position in Novartis by 4.0% during the third quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the company's stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock traded up $1.22 on Tuesday, hitting $106.65. 1,270,517 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,966,420. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.78 and a 200 day moving average of $108.20. The stock has a market cap of $217.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Company Profile

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.