First Pacific Financial Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

First Pacific Financial boosted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,313 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,258 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in Novartis by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group lifted its position in Novartis by 84.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 52.7% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 75,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,117,000 after purchasing an additional 26,009 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, October 27th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 10th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $137.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.51. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.91 and a 52 week high of $140.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.