Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Takes $195,000 Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $115.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $236.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.87. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year 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 released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS 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%. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.