Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 2,496 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 80.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,611 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,496 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 115.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,797,000 after buying an additional 124,111 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Novartis by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,598,000 after purchasing an additional 22,998 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 157,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,088,000 after purchasing an additional 18,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,986,000 after purchasing an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NVS shares. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $103.09 on Thursday. The company 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $100.07 and its 200 day moving average is $108.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current 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.