Ascent Group LLC Grows Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 104.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,024 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,176 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Novartis by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.4% during the first quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 4,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.9% during the first quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.8% during the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.5% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $128.15 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.51 and a 200-day moving average of $115.43. The firm has a market cap of $270.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.63. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $130.46.

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