Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Invests $236,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $88,339,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after acquiring an additional 296,950 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 128.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,063,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $111.48 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.82. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

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.