Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC Purchases 206 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC lifted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,450 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 206 shares during the quarter. Novartis comprises approximately 2.0% of Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $7,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $1,333,000. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,458,000 after purchasing an additional 15,212 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $196,000. Foster Group Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 2,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 1.2 %

NVS stock opened at $103.09 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $210.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.57. 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.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.