Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 24,096 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,045 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,096 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Novartis were worth $31,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in Novartis by 93.0% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust raised its stake in Novartis by 425.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $154.84 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $295.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $151.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.23.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. The business had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

About Novartis

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.