Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 5,491 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,453 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,491 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $10,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Novartis by 16.7% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,482,000 after purchasing an additional 4,897 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the third quarter worth $509,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 3.6% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in Novartis by 92.4% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.67.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $106.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $108.78. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.27 EPS 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.