Crews Bank & Trust Purchases Shares of 745 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after buying an additional 70,314 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 2.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,986,000 after acquiring an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Novartis by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,289,000 after acquiring an additional 123,077 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in Novartis by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,676,000 after acquiring an additional 13,486 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $104.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.50. The firm has a market cap of $213.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57.

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 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.