West Oak Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,778 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 782.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $99.20 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $202.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.24.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

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.