Novartis AG $NVS Shares Bought by Crux Wealth Advisors

Crux Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,146 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,218 shares during the quarter. Crux Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $1,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 66.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $131.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.58. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $133.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

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.