Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Acquired by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,128 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Novartis by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 33,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 8,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $106.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $218.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.42. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.13.

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.