Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $112.99 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 52,044 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Novartis worth $112,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 503.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $107.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $100.53 and a 200-day moving average of $108.34. The company has a market capitalization of $219.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

About Novartis

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.