Equitable Trust Co. Makes New $229,000 Investment in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Equitable Trust Co. bought a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 5.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $106.45 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for 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 period last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.