Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Acquired by CX Institutional

CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,679 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 6.0% during the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Boston Mountain Money Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Mountain Money Management Inc. now owns 2,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 20,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $116.56 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $116.09 and its 200-day moving average is $107.69. 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 $238.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal 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.