Advisors Preferred LLC Buys New Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 257.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 6,990 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.4% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.1% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 32.9% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 7,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 96,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock opened at $106.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.32 and a 200-day moving average of $108.39. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

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.