Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $12.28 Million Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 126,147 shares of the company’s stock after selling 997 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $12,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Novartis by 128.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,554,000 after acquiring an additional 296,890 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,063,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,795,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $110.78 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.98. The firm has a market cap of $226.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

About Novartis

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.