HF Advisory Group LLC Has $967,000 Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

HF Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,409 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 751 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $242,000. Martin Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 2.5% in the third quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 234,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,988,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Henry James International Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 2.8% in the third quarter. Henry James International Management Inc. now owns 45,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Blue Square Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.1% in the third quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 21,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,428,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 7,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.0 %

NVS opened at $109.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.57. The company has a market capitalization of $223.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis 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.