Coastline Trust Co Increases Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Coastline Trust Co boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,621 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,060 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 4.8% during the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 11,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 62.7% in the 3rd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 3.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 33,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.0% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 37,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 13.5% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NVS. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $103.06 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $113.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.