Maia Wealth LLC Takes $268,000 Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Maia Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% in the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $106.81 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.55. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $218.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of 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 downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.