2,493 Shares in Novartis AG $NVS Purchased by GM Advisory Group LLC

GM Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 12,664.1% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,204,000 after buying an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Novartis by 489.1% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 564,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,369,000 after buying an additional 469,080 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Novartis by 5.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,535,000 after buying an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Trust Co purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $32,297,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. HC Wainwright downgraded Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $130.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.36. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $134.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The firm had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.