Csenge Advisory Group Has $1.60 Million Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 63.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,395 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Group's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning increased its position in Novartis by 4.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company's stock worth $39,676,000 after purchasing an additional 13,486 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,864 shares of the company's stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 159.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 6,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 2,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on NVS. HSBC cut Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.45 on Wednesday, hitting $107.06. The company had a trading volume of 652,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,269. The firm has a market cap of $218.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day moving average is $100.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.44 earnings per share 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.