Radnor Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,525 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NVS opened at $106.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $115.11 and a 200 day moving average of $109.55. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

About Novartis

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.