Fiera Capital Corp Invests $5.29 Million in Novartis AG $NVS

Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 43,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,285,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Novartis by 2.6% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Cherokee Insurance Co acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth $424,000. Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 5.7% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at $25,256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $131.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.32. The stock has a market cap of $277.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $134.00.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $13.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cfra Research raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.33.

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.