Equitable Trust Co. Has $3 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Equitable Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 794.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,417 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 425.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVS. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $154.70 on Friday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $112.34 and a twelve month high of $170.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $295.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.63 and its 200-day moving average is $151.09.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.77 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.