Creative Planning Buys 14,858 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 331,465 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,858 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Novartis were worth $35,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 0.9% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 5.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 9.3% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $115.61 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.91 and a 200 day moving average of $106.06. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $236.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

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.