J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 395 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,744 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Oak Associates Ltd. OH grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.6% during the second quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 157,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,105,000 after buying an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 84.2% in the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $457,000. Finally, Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 118.3% in the 2nd quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $130.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.62. The stock has a market cap of $275.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $134.00.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NVS. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.33.

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.