Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Acquired by West Oak Capital LLC

West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,778 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $64,610,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Novartis by 343.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after buying an additional 509,567 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Novartis by 10,528.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,511,000 after buying an additional 321,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,063,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on NVS. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock opened at $99.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $101.33 and a 200-day moving average of $109.24. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.65 EPS for the current 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.