Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $3.72 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,227 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.8% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.4% during the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $98.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $200.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $100.34 and a 200-day moving average of $108.88.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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.