Southland Equity Partners LLC Acquires 381 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,380 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its position in Novartis by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $100.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $100.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.