Focus Partners Wealth Buys 6,849 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 16.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,548 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVS. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Tsfg LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NVS opened at $124.12 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $130.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $121.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.84. The firm has a market cap of $262.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.63.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.Novartis’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share 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.