Venturi Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,081 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,957 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 66.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $132.36 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.50 and a 200 day moving average of $117.59. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $133.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.