Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Has $13.49 Million Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 101.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 97,812 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,297 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Novartis were worth $13,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 319,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,098,000 after buying an additional 6,573 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in Novartis by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 262,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,234,000 after purchasing an additional 14,922 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $211,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Novartis by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beddow Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $148.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $149.49 and a 200-day moving average of $147.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $282.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.46. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $112.34 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.