Novartis AG $NVS Shares Purchased by Compound Planning Inc.

Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,578 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,544 shares during the quarter. Compound Planning Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 13,687.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,103,000 after buying an additional 4,594,726 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the first quarter worth $220,004,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,860,000 after buying an additional 1,148,033 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,158,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,414,000 after acquiring an additional 895,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $108,638,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $156.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $298.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.45. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $112.34 and a twelve month high of $170.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.11.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $14.95 billion for the quarter. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.56% and a net margin of 23.29%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.