Koshinski Asset Management Inc. Buys 131 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,137 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after acquiring an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after purchasing an additional 70,314 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Novartis by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,289,000 after buying an additional 123,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,676,000 after buying an additional 13,486 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE NVS opened at $100.00 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.81. 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 cap of $204.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for 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 posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVS. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.