Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 81,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,908,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Private Ocean LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $113.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.53. The stock has a market cap of $232.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.