Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 6,438 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 218.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,382 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,438 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Novartis were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NVS. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

NVS opened at $104.65 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $213.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.62 earnings per share 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.