Godsey & Gibb Inc. Has $18.71 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 192,287 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the quarter. Novartis comprises about 1.9% of Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $18,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integral Health Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 115.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,797,000 after acquiring an additional 124,111 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 343.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after purchasing an additional 509,567 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 135.5% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,598,000 after purchasing an additional 22,998 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on NVS. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $99.05 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $202.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $101.13 and its 200-day moving average is $109.19.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Novartis 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.