Milestone Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,333,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $103.09 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $100.07 and a 200-day moving average of $108.57. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Profile

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.