Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Grows Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 731.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,041 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,752 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 17.1% during the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 8.6% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,490,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $138.75 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.91 and a 52 week high of $140.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $130.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $293.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.36 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.