Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 224,981 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 224,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVS. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $111.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $227.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.

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