Novartis AG $NVS Shares Purchased by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 60.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,271 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,852 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Novartis by 13.2% during the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $266,000. Cypress Capital Group raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 84.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after buying an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $1,909,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Cfra set a $126.00 target price on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $135.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $137.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $129.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.52.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, 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.