Wedmont Private Capital Has $699,000 Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,501 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Novartis were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $118.01 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Novartis’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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.